Gourmet Lasagna with #RedGold

Today's dish of Classic Lasagna is brought to you by RedGold and Laura's Lean Beef. To kick off 2015, Red Gold is hosting a promotion that began January 13 during which twice a week they are giving away a Le Creuset Lasagna Pan, a Simple Gourmet Lasagna Kit, Red Gold spatula, Garfield Toy, coupons and an apron. Just go to this link to enter!

Perfect for any healthier eating resolutions in the New Year, Red Gold is hosting this promotion along with Laura's Lean Beef, and developed a delicious Skinny Lasagna recipe. And of course you can add all kinds of things to it to make it your own gourmet lasagna- but it might not be as skinny!

Now I am not very creative on lasagna and I think I have only made it twice in the almost ten years we have been married. Lasagna honestly scares me because of the calories, and prep time. And instead of making the complete low fat version, since I am the ONLY one in my family who will eat cottage cheese, I had to make their classic recipe using the low fat ricotta. I will tell you one secret that I did differently- mix your layer of ricotta, mozzarella, and sauce together. It spreads so much easier on top of those noodles. I highlighted this in the recipe below.

Classic Lasagna

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water

1 (28 ounce) can Red Gold® Crushed Tomatoes, or 2 (15 ounce) cans Red Gold Crushed Tomatoes

2 (14.5 ounce) cans Red Gold® Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic & Oregano

Salt to taste

1 pound Laura's 92% Lean Ground Beef, or any ground beef or Italian sausage, cooked and drained

1 (16 ounce) box traditional lasagna noodles, uncooked

1 (15 ounce) carton low fat ricotta cheese

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. In large mixing bowl combine water, crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes,

salt and ground beef, stir to combine ingredients.

Cover the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan with 1½ cups of sauce mixture. Arrange 1/3 of noodles

on top of sauce, slightly overlapped. Top with ½ of ricotta cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1

cup of sauce. (this is where I mix the layer of ricotta, mozzarella, and sauce together)

Repeat layers and top with last 1/3 of noodles and the remaining sauce.

Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 to 1½ hours; until noodles are cooked.

Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

The recipe makes 12 servings, but you could divide the recipe into two 9x9 inch baking dishes and

freeze one for a wintry night supper.

  

I of course made only the one pan. We will see if there are any leftovers....

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising): Many thanks to Red Gold and Laura's Lean Beef for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a samples of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Fall Harvest Time with a Slow Cooker Red Gold Tomatoes Recipe from Me, Plus a Giveaway

I think I forgot how hectic Fall is, and we are still FIVE days away from the official calendar date. Anyone who knows me knows that my crockpot aka slow cooker is one of my favorite meal makers. I own three.

"The company, Red Gold-- is focused on slow cooking this Fall, and encouraging families to have a hot meal waiting after a busy school/work day.  Getting back into the Fall schedule is always busy, and slow cookers make mealtimes easier. What's more, in most families there's usually some delicious leftovers to freeze and reheat on another busy night! Using tomatoes in soups, stews and casseroles may also offer more nutrition: when tomatoes are heated, the antioxidant lycopene (linked to several health benefits) is released. Red Gold also will be hosting a promotion on its Facebook fan page starting today, September 17 during which they will give away two slow cookers a day for three weeks — that's 44 Crock-Pots. Just go to this link to fill out an entry form."

Red Gold recently sent me a variety-pack of tomatoes plus an apron, wooden spoon, and recipes. The kit contained 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1 can of diced w/ green chiles, 1 can of diced with lime juice and cilantro and 1 can of diced with garlic and olive oil. The recipes are absolute must tries, Pulled Pork Sliders, Sausage & Sweet Potato Chili and Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese. Yummy! You can find all of Red Gold's slow cook recipes here.

I actually used the can of diced with garlic and olive oil and another I had in the pantry last week in my slow cooker. Have you ever had Macaroni Grill's Pasta Milano? Well, this recipe is like that, only its not. It has the chicken, tomatoes, and bowtie pasta, not the butter, the heavy cream sauce and a few other things. My family says it's a MAKE AGAIN!!

Let me know what you think!

Now, which one of my readers would like to receive their very own Red Gold Tomato Kit? All you have to do is enter on the easy Rafflecopter entry form below. Bonus entries are available!

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising): Many thanks to Red Gold for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. This Giveaway is open to U.S. only. a Rafflecopter giveaway

How Do You Aioli? And A Facebook Contest from Red Gold. #EasyAioli #RedGoldRecipes

First of all, what is aioli?

Aioli is a creamy mayo-like sauce that is used as a sandwich topping, dip or spread. It is usually made with mayo, tomatoes and other herbs and spices to give it a signature taste. It can be used on a variety of foods and adds a delightful taste to crab cakes, tacos, breads and more.

Red Gold Tomatoes sent me a 5-pack kit of different types of tomatoes, a red apron, a spreading knife and TEN of their new aioli recipes, as they are hoping to introduce more home cooks to aioli, and though many know and love such flavorful spreads, many are also unaware of how to make or use aioli.

The 5 cans included: 2 cans of diced tomatoes with Garlic/Olive Oil, 1 can of diced tomatoes with Lime & Cilantro, 1 can of diced tomatoes with Green Chilies, and 1 can of petite diced tomatoes. The recipes they sent me can be found here. They include: Best Year Round BLT, Flatbread Veggie Pizza, Fish Tacos. YUMMY! I have even included the recipe for the Best Year Round BLT below, because I know there are a lot of bacon lovers out there, right? 

The other night, I just wanted some dip. I opened the Lime & Cilantro and mixed it with 1/2 cup of light mayo and used tortilla chips. The kids loved it!!

BEST YEAR ROUND BLT with TOMATO AIOLI

MAKES 4 SERVINGS PREPARATION TIME: 20 MINUTES

1⁄2 cup light mayonnaise
1 (14.5 ounce) can RED GOLD® PETITE DICED TOMATOES 8 slices bread, variety of choice
4 large lettuce leaves
12 slices bacon, cooked and drained

Ground black pepper to taste
Combine mayonnaise and RED GOLD® PETITE DICED TOMATOES to make the Tomato Aioli.

Place lettuce on 4 slices of bread and then add three strips of bacon and top with Tomato Aioli and black pepper. Place slice of bread on top. Cut in half and serve.

NUTRITIONAL FACTS PER SERVING
Calories 320Fat 15g, Trans Fat 0g, Cholesterol 30mg, Sodium 740mg, Carbohydrate 30g, Fiber 4g, Protein 15g, Vitamin A 4%, Vitamin C 4%, Calcium 25%, Iron 10%

Which aioli are you? Red Gold is hosting a Facebook campaign from May 7-27th, where fans can win aprons or even a $250 prize pack that includes a Cuisinart Panini Grill and other great prizes. Just go to https://www.facebook.com/RedGold and select which aioli you think you are most like to enter.

Disclosure: Red Gold sent me product to review and write an honest post. No other compensation was received.