Lasagna

I've been wanting to make lasagna forever but something held me back. Most lasagna recipes make a TON of food, more than I could ever eat by myself before it went bad. Shane kept telling me he didn't really like lasagna and I didn't want to invest the time and money in making the lasagna only to have it go to waste. A few weeks ago, however, we had this lasagna for a quick, last minute dinner and Shane really liked it. That was all I needed to give me the green light to finally make lasagna.


I looked at many recipes but I'd seen so many raves for Pioneer Woman's lasagna that I decided to give it a shot. I won't lie. It took me a while to make this lasagna. I made it on Friday night when Shane was out with friends and then stuck it in the fridge for the weekend. I baked it on Sunday afternoon and we've been eating it all week! Fortunately, Shane loves it so I think we'll finish it before I need to throw any out. I like it a lot too though it's maybe a tad greasy for me. Next time I make it I'll probably sub ground turkey for the ground beef.


Lasagna
from Pioneer Woman Cooks

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 pound hot breakfast sausage
2 cloves minced garlic
two 14.5 oz cans whole peeled tomatoes
two 6 oz cans tomato paste
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 tablespoons dried basil
salt
one 10 oz package lasagna noodles
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups lowfat cottage cheese
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup Kraft parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 pound sliced mozzarella cheese (shredded works too!)

In a skillet, combine ground beef, sausage and 2 cloves minced garlic. Cook until brown and then drain off half the fat. Pour in cans of tomatoes and tomato paste and add parsley, basil and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix together thoroughly and simmer, uncovered, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, boil the lasagna noodles. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil to water. Cook the noodles al dente. When noodles are finished, drain, rinse with cool water, and lay them flat on a sheet of aluminum foil.

While meat and noodles are cooking, combine cottage cheese with the eggs in a bowl. Add the Kraft parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons dried parsley and 1 teaspoon salt.

Set up your assembly line: meat mixture, mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese mixture and lasagna noodles. Lay 4 lasagna noodles in the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish, overlapping as you go. Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Next, lay 1/2 pound of the mozzarella cheese and finally add a little less than half of the meat mixture on top of the mozzarella, spreading it evenly to cover the mozzarella.

Repeat the layering process: begin with another layer of 4 lasagna noodles, top with the remaining half of the cottage cheese mixture, add the remaining 1/2 lb of mozzarella cheese and finally finish with the remaining meat mixture. Top the meat mixture with a generous amount of Kraft parmesan cheese.

Place in a 350 F oven for 20-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Alternatively, you could cover and freeze the lasagna, unbaked, or cover and refrigerate, unbaked, for up to 2 days.