Weeknight Skillet Lasagna with Kale and Artichoke

I pride myself on having a few different love languages. Of course they all revolve around me feeding the people I love and while that may be downright annoying for someone say, sick with the flu, I’m ok with it –  everyone is hungry eventually. Everyone needs an easy lasagna recipe, I mean… always, right? And the easiest lasagna blessedly, a skillet lasagna!

One of my love languages is pie, usually chicken pot.

Cookies are a love language language among us Wilson’s, specifically Dad’s perfect chocolate chip.

A few quality recipes in the ol’ back pocket are a cheap, but very loving party trick.

Pasta is the love language I employ to show love to myveryself. A big batch of fresh pasta for me, and me alone, on a Friday night? That’s absolutely my style and I’m so glad social media is catching up. Just the other day I saw a dating challenge (? I dunno, we’re all post panini just trying to figure this out) that detailed the following:  we’re all putting away our dating apps (I mean, yes), we’re meeting people in real life by just having the guts to initiate a conversation, AND we’re dating ourselves once a week. YES FRIENDS, I’ve been on this tip forever ever. Can we date ourselves with pasta?  Yes, it’s great.

Here’s the weeknight / great leftovers pasta love I show myself: a skillet lasagna noodle bake that is filled every bite with sausage, kale, cheese and artichoke hearts. It’s an easy weeknight meal that can go on the stove while I’m cleaning dishes for the day’s bake or answering the last few emails.  It’s a lot of love in a little pot.  Here’s how!

Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy lasagna recipe:

•  Spicy Italian sausage though if you’re vegetarian you can substitute or omit as necessary.

•  Onions and garlic, Italian basics.

•  Kale – stemmed, washed and coarsely chopped.

•  Artichoke hearts, the canned variety, drained and coarsely chopped.

•  Tomato paste, dried herbs, crushed red pepper flakes, and salt.

•  Canned crushed tomatoes.

•  Lasagna noodles broken into big bitesized pieces.  You can absolutely use a GF noodle as you’d like.

•  Water and wine to deglaze the pan and thin and cook the lasagna bake.

•  Shredded mozzarella cheese and a spiced ricotta cheese to top.

Start by browning sausage in a splash of olive oil until crisp around the edges.

Those browned bits on the bottom of the pan are all flavor – embrace that!  Add onion and saute until they’re translucent and fragrant.

Add coarsely chopped kale (I like lacitano for this skillet lasagna) and coarsely chopped artichoke hearts.  The pan will feel full but everything will cook down nicely.

At this point in my weeknight dinner prep, I’m definitely still multi-tasking by drinking a glass of wine and answering the last few emails of the day. That’s why this easy lasagna recipe needs to be EASY.

When all of the sausage and veggies have cooked down, add spices and tomato paste. 

Stir around the pan until everything is deliciously fragrant, releasing the flavor of the dried herbs.

Stir in a can of crushed tomatoes and imperfectly broken raw lasagna noodles. You can use either no boil or traditional lasagna noodles for this easy lasagna recipe. 

Of course you can use gluten-free noodles as you’d like, or any shape noodle you prefer. I love how the big flat sheets of pasta absorb all of the flavor and I love scooping it into my mouth rather messily while eating dinner on the couch. Yea, this easy lasagna recipe is even easier because we don’t have to set the table. That’s my life, it’s chill.

Add water, cover, and allow the noodles to cook and soften.  

Once the noodles are cooked through, stir in a few handfuls of shredded mozzarella cheese.  

If you want a less cheesy dinner situation, you can absolutely skip this step.

My favorite part of this lasagna is the seasoned ricotta topping.

Dollop ricotta generously across the skillet and return to the oven for a little heat blitz. 

Sprinkle with fresh herbs – parsley, oregano, chives or whatever you have on hand. 

Enjoy with a light, lemony green salad and a sprinkle of parmesan and red pepper flakes.  Enjoy dinner in the most comfortable seat in your couch.

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Photos with my friend Jon Melendez.