The quest to eat all of the cheese in our office continues.

First there was our attempt at creating a 1,005-cheese-slice Whopper, then there was our successful rice cooker deep dish Chicago pizza concoction. Now, with tons of cheese still leftover, we bring you…lasagna.

That’s what our Japanese-language reporter and workplace chef Go Hatori came up with when he was thinking of ways to use up more cheese. An ooey-gooey lasagna would do just the trick, but would it taste just as good made in a rice cooker?

This was Go’s first attempt at making lasagna in a rice cooker, so he decided to wing the recipe. Go prepped some of the more time-consuming ingredients at home, like boiled eggs and the meat to add to the lasagna.

▼ You might be tilting your head already at the eggs, but hear us out.

He made the meat sauce with ground meat, onions, canned tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and basil.

The next day, he brought his prepped ingredients and more to the office.

Ingredients:

  • Meat sauce
  • Hard-boiled eggs
  • Lasagna noodles
  • Fresh, chopped parsley
  • Fresh basil
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Salami

First, Go boiled the lasagna noodles as per the directions on the lasagna noodle box.

Next, he chopped up the hard-boiled eggs and the basil, then laid out the ingredients in preparation for lasagna construction.

He started off with some meat sauce on the bottom of the rice cooker…

…then added some hard-boiled eggs.

He threw in some basil and salami…

…and completed the first layer with a lasagna noodle.

Now it’s cheese time! Yes, that’s actually how much is left in our fridge.

Go didn’t hold back, adding slice after slice.

He repeated this stacking process a few more times…

…until he completed his massive five-layer lasagna.

He closed the rice cooker lid and set the timer for 60 minutes.

When the timer beeped, he opened the lid to see his beautiful, cheesy creation. It looked delicious!

Go wasted no time in cutting out a thick slice.

He used his blowtorch to crisp up the cheese a bit more.

For garnish, he sprinkled some chopped parsley.

Plated up, it almost looked restaurant-worthy. And on his first try, too!

Our boss Yoshio happened to walk by at that moment, perhaps subconsciously lured by the enticing lasagna scent drifting in the air. Yoshio can be a tough critic, but as he tried Go’s creation, he had nothing but good things to say. “This is amazing…I can’t stop eating it even though I’m full from the curry I just ate.”

▼ “You know something’s really good when you want to eat it even on a full stomach.”

His motivation fueled by Yoshio’s generous praise, Go plated up enough lasagna to feed the whole office, blowtorching each one carefully.

He didn’t skimp on the parsley garnish, either.

Now for the grand taste test…

▼ “This is sooo good!”
“Delectable!”
“The cheese is even a bit crispy!”

Not one member of our staff had a bad experience with this rice cooker lasagna. What made Go particularly happy is that Seiji Nakazawa, the team’s harshest critic, was the first one to vocalize how delicious it was.

▼ It also turned out to be Seiji’s first-ever lasagna.

Finally, Chef Go allowed himself a taste and savored the cheesy fruits of his labor. He was not disappointed.

So if you’ve got a rice cooker at home and a ridiculous amount of cheese, consider trying out Go’s recipe! We’re sure the SoraNews24 team will be begging him to make more.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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