Ham and cheese lasagna

I had bought lots of ham and had no time to cook dinner, so I decided to make a no prep lasagna. You just assemble it, stick it in the oven and cook it for half an hour and you have a scrumptious meal in no time.

Ingredients:

2 cups roughly chopped ham
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 box oven ready lasagna noodles
1 cup white sauce (see recipe below)
1/2 cup grated romano cheese
1/2 cup marinara sauce (optional)
salt and pepper
paprika
thyme

In a bowl, mix the ham, mozzarella cheese, ricotta, part of the romano cheese, salt, pepper, a dash of paprika and thyme.

In the bottom of a rectangular oven dish, spread some marinara sauce and a layer of lasagna noodles. You can avoid this step if your kids don't like tomato sauce (like mine).

Spread a layer of the ricotta mixture and another layer of the lasagna noodles.

You can put a little marinara sauce and some cut up mozzarella cheese.

Then pour the white sauce on top and sprinkle with some romano cheese.

Bake it for half an hour in a 375°F oven.

You can also make it ahead of time. For example, if you have guests, you prep up the lasagna the day before and put it in the fridge, then the next day just stick it in a cold oven and bake for forty minutes.

To prepare the white sauce:

In a pan, add the butter, cold milk, cornstarch and seasonings and stir until all the cornstarch has disolved. Then for the next 10-15 min boil in very low heat, stirring constantly.


Tips for the white sauce:

If you get lumps, just stir vigorously until they disappear.

If it's not thick enough, in a cup, add 4 tablespoons cold milk with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and stir until it has disolved. Then add it straight to the pot and keep on stirring (at low heat) until it thickens.

If you don't have cornstarch, you can substitute for all-purpose flour.