I'VE ALWAYS LIKED lasagna. But until recently I never liked to make lasagna.

Either I didn't have the time or energy to do the lasagna dough from scratch or I was beset with having to cope with the dried lasagna noodles from the supermarket, which, once cooked, often tear and stick to one another before you finally layer them in the pan. Also, dried lasagna has always seemed unappetizingly thick and pasty.

Another drawback was that I had thought a real tomato sauce had to be made from fresh tomatoes and simmered for hours.

All that has changed.

First off, there is a relatively new product on the market called No-Boil Lasagna -- wafer-thin, wavy, precooked dried lasagna sheets that contain half the calories of boiled regular dried lasagna. The precooked lasagna sheets -- there are 14 to 15 in each eight-ounce box -- are made from enriched durum semolina wheat flour and water. No eggs or additives. And they're certified kosher and pareve. We purchased our easy-to-spot red, white and green No-Boil boxes for $1.29.

For more information about No-Boil, call 1-800-662-6451. The noodles are available locally at several stores including Safeway, Shoppers Warehouse and Farm Fresh.

Regular lasagna, cooked al dente, can be substituted for the No-Boil noodles.

Second, there are a number of bottled tomato-based spaghetti sauces on the market that are convenient and perfectly adequate substitutes for home-cooked numbers. If this strikes you as heresy, there are tasty sauces that can be made from canned tomatoes. Either way, one simply does not have to wait for fresh summer tomatoes to make a decent sauce.

Another bonus is the discovery that lasagna cooks beautifully in either a conventional oven or a microwave. It can be made ahead and either refrigerated (up to three days) or frozen without losing anything in the translation. However, if it is frozen, we recommend at least partially defrosting the lasagna in the refrigerator or microwave before cooking.

Finally, lasagna is an extremely forgiving dish. It makes little difference if you decide you want to substitute, add or leave out an ingredient. Within reason, that is. For instance, there's no need to use mushrooms if you don't like mushrooms. On the other hand, if you want to "beef up" your sauce, try adding cooked sliced mushrooms or sauteed ground meat. And just because a recipe calls for beef, sausage or pork doesn't mean you can't use leaner ground turkey instead.

Feel free to substitute cottage cheese for part of the ricotta generally called for. Part-skim mozzarella and ricotta work just as well as their regular counterparts. (Do not, however, try low-fat or fat cottage cheese, which tend to impart a bitter taste.) No mozzarella on hand? Try substituting shredded Swiss or havarti cheeses. Even goat cheese, although you would probably want to use it more for an accent. Want a sharper taste? Use fresh grated Romano instead of Parmesan.

Easy Tomato Sauce

1 (15 1/2 -ounce) jar prepared spaghetti sauce of choice

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

Combine sauces.

Basic Lasagna White Sauce

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

7 tablespoons flour

3 cups milk or other liquid

1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

1/2 teaspoon pepper or to taste

Melt butter in heavy saucepan over low heat and add the flour all at once. Stir constantly with a whisk until all the flour has been absorbed and the mixture is smooth. Cook for an additional minute. Add about one-half cup of the milk or other liquid slowly, still stirring with the whisk. Increase heat to medium and continue to add remaining milk slowly, cooking until sauce becomes thickish. Add salt and pepper to taste. Makes about four cups.

Spinach Artichoke Lasagna

1 cup minced onion

1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter

1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, sliced

3 to 4 cups white sauce (recipe below)

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 (9-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 (10-ounce) package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and chopped, or 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (reserve four to five artichoke halves for decorating)

1 pound small-curd cottage cheese

8 ounces shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1 egg

9 to 12 dry precooked lasagna noodles or 1 pound regular lasagna, cooked and drained

Saute onion and garlic in oil or butter until soft. Add mushrooms and continue cooking until mushrooms give off juices and are fairly limp. Add mixture to white sauce along with the nutmeg. Taste for seasoning, adding more nutmeg if desired.

Combine spinach, artichokes, cottage cheese, mozzarella, Parmesan and egg and mix well. Spread about a quarter of the white sauce mixture in bottom of 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Cover with three to four (If using No-Boil, take care that they do not touch outside edge of pan or they will be tough. You may break or cut noodles to better fill out layer, if desired.) Spread another quarter of the white sauce over noodles, then add half the spinach mixture. Cover with another layer of noodles, white sauce, the remaining vegetable mixture and noodles. Spread remaining quarter of sauce on top. Decorate with reserved artichoke halves. Cover with plastic wrap and cook on high power in microwave for 17 to 19 minutes, turning once or twice during heating. Let sit for five minutes before serving. To cook conventionally, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until bubbly. Check toward end of baking time and uncover for last ten minutes if you wish to brown slightly. Let stand five minutes before serving. Serves eight to ten.

Note: If you don't care for artichokes, substitute 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained.

Meat Lasagna

1 (15-ounce) carton ricotta or cottage cheese, well drained

1 egg (optional)

1 teaspoon Italian seasonings (or pinch each of basil, oregano and thyme)

1 to 1 1/2 pounds ground beef (or pork, sausage or turkey), browned and drained

1 (28- to 32-ounce) jar prepared spaghetti sauce or 4 cups homemade spaghetti sauce

9 dry, precooked lasagna noodles (or 9 regular noodles cooked al dente)

2 (8-ounce) packages shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Combine ricotta cheese, egg and seasonings; set aside. Add browned meat to spaghetti sauce, mixing well. Evenly spread one quarter of the sauce (about one cup) on bottom of 9x13x2-inch glass baking dish. Cover with three dry precooked noodles, being careful that noodles do not touch outside edges of dish. Spread another quarter of the sauce, covering noodles completely. Layer half the ricotta mixture and a third of mozzarella cheese on top of sauce. Repeat layers of noodles, sauce, ricotta mixture and mozzarella. Cover with last of noodles, remaining sauce and shredded mozzarella. Sprinkle with Parmesan, if desired. To cook in microwave, cover dish with plastic wrap. Cook on high power for 17 to 19 minutes, turning dish once or twice during heating. Let stand five minutes before cutting. To cook in conventional oven, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover dish with foil and bake for 30 to 40 mintues. To brown cheese, uncover dish during the last 10 to 15 minutes of baking. Let stand before cutting. Serves eight.

Small-Scale Lasagna

1 (16-ounce) jar commercial spaghetti sauce

3/4 to 1 pound ground meat (beef, pork, sausage or turkey), browned and drained

1 cup cottage cheese with chives

1 cup ricotta cheese, drained

8 ounces shredded mozzarella, divided

1 egg (optional)

1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

5 lasagana noodles

Combine spaghetti sauce and browned meat; set aside. Combine cottage and ricotta cheeses and six to seven of the mozzarella cheese with egg, coriander and jalapeno pepper. Spread a small amount (about a sixth of mixture) of tomato-meat sauce to cover the bottom of 9x5x3-inch glass or ceramic loaf pan. Cover with one lasagna noodle, another sixth of meat sauce, a quarter of cheese mixture and another lasagna noodle. Continue layering sauce, cheese and noodles, in that order topping last noodle with sauce and, finally, the rest of the shredded mozzarella. To microwave, cover pan with plastic wrap and cook for 15 to 17 minutes on high power, turning pan once or twice during heating. To cook in conventional oven, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, removing foil for last five minutes of cooking. Serves three to four.

Not-Too-Hard Tomato Sauce

1 cup minced onion

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1/4 cup olive or other vegetable oil

1 (2-pound, 3-ounce) can Italian plum tomatoes, undrained

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

1/2 cup dry red wine

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or more to taste)

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

Saute onion and garlic in oil in a big, heavy saucepan over medium heat for about eight to ten minutes. When golden, add the tomatoes with their juice, the tomato paste, wine, water, salt, sugar, pepper and oregano. Simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Semi-purists may now press the sauce through a sieve. We recommend pureeing either a little at a time on high speed in a blender or all at once in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Makes about six cups. Can easily be doubled. Freezes well.

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