One of the first things I learned to cook many years ago was lasagna, but that was the Chef Boyardee lasagna in a box. I could make it without looking at the instructions on the box, but then they changed their sauce and it just didn't taste the same. Over the past few years, I would just put a Stouffer's lasagna in the over when we wanted lasagna.
I decided to pull out the cookbook from my church back home and look to see if there was any easy looking lasagna recipe. I ran across this recipe from my good friend's mom, Lillian.
Here's what you'll need:
- 1 lb Italian sausage
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1 tbsp whole basil
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1- 1 pt can (2C) tomatoes
- 2- 6 oz cans tomato paste
- 10 oz lasagne noodles
- 3 C cottage cheese
- 1/2 C grated Parmesan
- 2 tbsp parsley flakes
- 2 beaten eggs
- 1/2 pepper (I figured that she was meaning black pepper and went with tsp)
- 1 lb shredded mozzarella cheese
You'll want to first brown the Italian sausage. I've never cooked with sausage and at first just put the links in the pan - big mistake. So, cut the sausage out of the casing before placing in a hot pan to brown it. Lillian had also put that she normally does 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 Italian sausage.
Once your meat is browned and you have drained the excess fat, you'll add the minced garlic. I used the can of minced garlic instead of having to cut a clove of garlic.
You'll then add the basil,
the salt,
the can of tomatoes (I used diced tomatoes),
and the two cans of tomato paste.
Mix it all together and then let simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Don't forget to stir occasionally.
About half way through your simmer, you'll want to cook your lasagna noodles. I realized that I'm going to need a larger pot when cooking lasagna. I was able to get them cooked once part of the noodles started to soften.
The next part I kind of got wrong.
In a mixing bowl, not the meat sauce, you want to combine the cottage cheese,
the Parmesan,
the parsley flakes,
the beaten eggs,
and the pepper. Mix them all together and you have now made the cottage cheese filling.
I forgot to take a picture of the next step. Lillian has that you should put half of the noodles in a 13x9" pan. I just put three noodles on the bottom because I wanted to make several layers. I probably could have put two noodles over the three so that there were no gaps.
After you've made your noodle layer, you'll want to spread the cottage cheese filling,
the mozzarella, and then the meat sauce.
Repeat the layers. I did two more layers.
I made the last layer a big helping of mozzarella cheese.
You'll bake it for 30 at 375 degrees.
I just had to take a picture of it baking in our new oven. Love that I can just turn the light on and look in without opening the door. I just love our new oven!
Look at that cheesy goodness! I actually brought a few slices to my mom when I went home a few days after making this and she said it was really good. Jon liked it as well and took it to work for lunch a couple of days. Give it a try for yourself.
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