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Around our house, lasagna is a dinner we look forward to, and it’s a dish everyone regularly makes their own because it is easy to change up the sauce and filling.

If lasagna is a regular on your menu planning, a few tips can improve your usual recipe:

• We have all been told to boil pasta in salted water and to never add oil to the water. True for the salt, and time to rethink the oil, at least for lasagna noodles. These noodles are different than regular pasta and a little oil in the cooking water will help keep the noodles from sticking together. Add the salt after the water has started boiling.

• Speaking of noodles, using no-boil noodles can save lots of prep time. Just be sure they are completely covered with sauce for softening and cooking. These noodles also avoid the overcooking or undercooking that can happen with boiled noodles.

• Does your lasagna come out soupy? Rinse the boiled noodles with cold water, then drain well and blot with paper towels. If using ricotta, squeeze it in cheesecloth to remove the moisture. I use cottage cheese and place it in a colander to drain off the liquid.

• While ground beef is the traditional filling, a little less fat is sometimes the goal. Unfortunately, less fat really doesn’t work for regular lasagna. A mixture of beef and sausage will up the fat and flavor.

• Overloading one layer compared with the others will result in an uneven mouthful. Three layers of filling, noodles and sauce evenly divided means every bite is balanced and just right.

• Choosing the correct pan can save an oven disaster. Making a big batch means leftovers, but overfilling the pan can leave some of the ingredients wasted.

A glass baking dish works best because aluminum can react with the acid in the tomato sauce. While cooking the dish covered with foil is preferred, a layer of plastic wrap between the mozzarella topping and the foil will keep any sauce away from the foil. The moisture from the lasagna as well as the foil will keep the plastic wrap from melting.

• Grating that cheese topping tops using packaged grated for smoothness and melting.

• Probably the best tip most lasagna makers know is to make the dish a day ahead. It will meld the flavors and firm up the filling. Besides waiting a day to eat your creation, wait for it to rest 15 or 20 minutes after taking it out of the oven.

Enjoy this make-ahead meal with your family or plan ahead for company and enjoy a mess free kitchen when your guests arrive.

Today we have some desserts to top off your lasagna dinner. One makes a big batch of bars, and one is smaller.

The lazy layer bars are rich, and the crumb bars are good made with strawberry or blueberry preserves. Both of these recipes are from “The Great American Bake Sale.”

Have a wonderful week, and happy eating.

6 ounces each semisweet and butterscotch chips

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in 9-by-13-inch baking dish in the oven. Sprinkle crumbs evenly over melted butter.

Layer chips and coconut over crumbs. Drizzle condensed milk evenly over top. Sprinkle with pecans. Bake 30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into bars. Yields 12 to 16 bars.

1 cup quick cooking rolled oats

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 stick butter, cut into cubes

Combine first 4 ingredients in bowl; cut in butter until crumbly.

Pat half of the crumbs into bottom of greased 9-inch square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.

Spread preserves over crust. Sprinkle remaining crumbs over jam and bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into bars. Yields 12 bars.

Cheryle Finley is a food columnist for The Joplin Globe. Address correspondence to Cheryle Finley, c/o The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, MO 64802.

Cheryle Finley is a food columnist for The Joplin Globe. Address correspondence to Cheryle Finley, c/o The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, MO 64802.

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