Springing into Action

It’s officially spring; although you would hardly know it. Let’s not even mention the snow that’s coming our way again tonight. Nope…we won’t mention that. Instead we’ll focus on the one thing spring surely brings – spring break! I’m going to keep tonight’s post short and sweet. We’re planning a short little escape soon – just us and the kids. So while we’re busy getting prepared and shuttling Mr. N to and fro, I’m going to quickly share our last Polish recipe for this little adventure. lasagna noodles
Like last week, we’re focusing on another “lazy” take on the pierogi, the homemade dumplings filled with a variety of ingredients. One of the more traditional pierogi recipes features a dumpling stuffed with potatoes, onions and farmer’s cheese, and that’s what we’ve recreated here only in the form of a casserole. Or as I like to call it, a lazy-agna. cheese filling
Yes, I realize lasagna in and of itself isn’t exactly lazy, but I consider it easier than hand-making dumplings. Not to mention, it provides ample leftovers which is key for our schedule during Mr. N’s show. (Perhaps many of you have noticed that I’m absolutely drooling over your dishes these past few weeks as home cooked meals are few and far between right now.)mixing cheese
We found this recipe at About.com and one of my favorite tips was soaking the no-bake noodles for 30 minutes in warm water. I’ve used no-bake lasagna noodles before and I would say about 50% of the time they work fabulously. The other half of the time, some of the noodles don’t cook and I end up with a layer of crunchy pasta. Pre-soaking the noodles, however, did the trick. The pasta cooked to perfection. potatoes
Just like the prep for a traditional lasagna, the filling is prepared first. Ours included mashed potatoes and caramelized onions. Miss A also mixed the cottage cheese with egg and a bit of onion powder, while I shredded some cheddar cheese. caramelizing onions
Mr. N was our potato masher. He found it quite tiring. (Or perhaps it’s his late night rehearsals!) mashing potatoes
Once the cheddar cheese was mixed in with the hot mashed potatoes, we ended up with three mixtures for filling – the mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese; the cottage cheese; and the caramelized onions. cheesy potatoes
The rest is all about the layering. onions
We began with the noodles, added the cottage cheese, followed with the potatoes and then the onions. layering lasagna
And of course that’s followed with another layer of noodles, cottage cheese, potatoes and onions. lasagna steps
Once we reached our top layer, we tossed the remaining onions with a few breadcrumbs before adding them over top, and finished it off with a handful of cheddar cheese. breadcrumbs
We baked the casserole, covered, at 350F for 30 minutes. baking pierogi casserole
After the 30 minutes was up, we uncovered it and baked a final 10 minutes (or until bubbly). pierogi lasagna
We cut and served our lazy-agna immediately, reserving the leftovers in the fridge for the next week. This could also have been frozen and reheated as well. pierogi casserole
The pierogi casserole hit the spot. It was warm, it was filling and it was definitely comfort food. Miss A was in heaven – cottage cheese and mashed potatoes in one dish! It was a 3 spoon dish for her. In fact, this was a 3 spoon dish all around – a solid meal. Mr. N liked it so much, he had seconds and actually enjoyed his leftovers later in the week. pierogi lasagna
Mike and I loved the sharpness of the cheddar cheese and sweetness of the onions. And needless to say, I liked the fact that we could reheat individual servings for our crazy weeknights. pierogi lasagna
Print this recipe: Lazy-agna

polish lasagna

Given our success with both lazy pierogi options, one of these days, I’ll make the real thing. Until then, either the lazy pierogi or the lazy-agna will due perfectly.pierogi casserole dishWe’ll be back in a few weeks to share our latest adventures, and perhaps even a recipe or two. Until then, I’m going to check out for a bit and fully enjoy this year’s spring break with my growing kiddos. Hopefully by the time we return, winter will have officially gone on its break! Have a great start to April everyone!

34 thoughts on “Springing into Action”

  5. Barbara Bamber | justasmidgen says:
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    This is such a great idea! I’m thinking about what other dishes take time to fiddle with and could be made into a lasagne form like this one:) We love pierogi, I think I spell it perogy here, lol, and would love a slice of this one! I’m not surprised everyone loved this recipe:)xx

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  13. Three Well Beings says:
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    Well, Kristy! This is really a very delicious and creative casserole. I love the potatoes and cheese! It’s wonderful to hear that Mr. N is still keeping up with his acting performances, and I can only imagine how stretched you are to keep up with homework and these performances. Maybe you’re in the rehearsal stage, but it’s all the same responsibility for the taxi driver. 🙂 It’s good to see you’re still doing what you can to create home cooked meals, at least whenever you can. This is a fun season in your family’s life. I hope you’re just enjoying it. 🙂

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  14. Eva Taylor says:
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    I did some recipe testing way back in December and one of the recipes was for pierogi casserole! We actually used polish sausage sliced into the casserole and it was delicious. We also used regular noodles like penne or fusilli which worked out well too. Certainly not a healthy meal but boy was it tasty! I’m going to mark this for a cottage meal if the ice ever goes out this year!

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  15. ChgoJohn says:
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    This is a great dish, Kristy, and I know I’d enjoy it. How great that you’re all getting away for Spring Break! I hope you have a great time, one that you all won’t soon forget. Safe travels!

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  19. Kelly @ Inspired Edibles says:
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    Well, spring might be a little late in coming this year but it will surely be all the sweeter when it finally arrives! (that’s the theory anyway 😉 ). Love the look of the caramelized onions in this recipe and I’m not sure I’ve come across breadcrumbs in lasagna topping before — crispy carb heaven :). I hope all of your final preps are coming together peacefully Kristy — Bon Voyage (et courage) à toute la famille!! xx.

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  21. Anandee says:
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    I totally get you with the Spring not being Spring!! I am just hoping I get Summer!!! Really tired of this snow!!

    I have to try your lazy-agna. Lasagna is one of my kids favourite dishes. Do you think it’ll work with using the potatoes as the noodle and add the filling in between??

    Thanks for the recipe! Happy Spring break!!

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    • Kristy says:
      Reply

      Interesting thought Anandee. Do you mean using sliced potatoes in place of noodles? That might work, but could also be a bit of overkill with the mashed potatoes. If you did sliced potatoes with the cottage cheese mixture and caramelized onions, that might work. I’m imagining that would turn out similar to a scalloped potato dish. You’ll have to let me know if you try it! I hope your kids enjoy it as much as ours did. 🙂

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        • Kristy says:
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          That is so sweet of you. Thank you. There really aren’t any tricks to what I do. I use a Canon 7D with a 50mm fixed lens. I typically set-up my shooting area near a window with ample (but not direct) natural light. Then I use Adobe Lightroom to make any adjustments to the light. I’m not nearly as patient or as detailed as many food bloggers. I’m sure there’s a lot more that I could do, but this works for me. 🙂 Thanks again!

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  24. Dawn says:
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    That looks like the perfect comfort food casserole. With R dairy-free and allergic to pasta, that is going to have to be something I cook when he is away. Have a nice vacation!!

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  25. MyKabulKitchen says:
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    This looks like the ultimate comfort food, I especially love the caramelized onions on top, and yes with this long winter we need all the comfort food we can get! Thanks for the tip on soaking the lasagna noodles, I also have not had consistent results with those. Have a great break and enjoy the warm weather wherever you are escaping to 🙂

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  26. hotlyspiced says:
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    Enjoy your Spring break. I can’t believe it’s still snowing. It’s nearly April! Surely the weather will start to warm up? My little guy breaks up from school in a couple of weeks for the Easter holidays. He’ll have two weeks off school. I’m not sure if we’ll be taking a holiday; it looks like we’ll have to go to QLD to see Carl’s parents who aren’t doing too well. Good luck with all the rehearsals and I think this vegetarian Polish meal looks awesome xx

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