Jennie's Flavorful Cottage Cheese Lasagna |
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Prep Time: 14 Minutes Cook Time: 60 Minutes |
Ready In: 74 Minutes Servings: 2 |
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I love lasagna! Pretty much any kind of lasagna, too! You know what I don't like? Bland, flavorless lasagna. Whenever I try a frozen lasagna from the store - I think who likes this? It has no flavor! So... now I make my own. This is just one version of many that I like to make. Try it! Ingredients:
12 ready-to-bake lasagna noodles |
1 (12 ounce) container cottage cheese |
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese |
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese |
1 egg, beaten slightly |
1/4 teaspoon salt |
1/4 teaspoon pepper |
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt |
1 tablespoon italian seasoning |
1 (23 1/2 ounce) jar pasta sauce (prego italian sausage & garlic) |
1/2 lb ground beef, cooked and crumbled |
1 cup mirepoix (a mix of diced onions, carrots and celery) |
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350.
2. Lightly grease or spray a 13x9 baking pan.
3. Start by sauteing your mirepoix veggies in a little oil over medium high heat - about 5 minutes. (Hate veggies? Ok - you can skip this - but please at least add some onion powder!) Add your hamburger and cook until well browned. Add your favorite jar of pasta sauce and mix to combine. (I use Prego Italian Sausage & Garlic - because I like it and because I'm too lazy to make my own sauce - no lectures, please!) Set aside.
4. In a small bowl, add egg (beaten), all your spices (salt, pepper, garlic, Italian seasonings), the cottage cheese (any kind - I use 4%), the Parmesan and HALF (1 cup) of your mozzarella cheese. Stir to combine. Can you use Ricotta instead of the cottage cheese? Yes! Of course! It's your kitchen! I'm just using cottage cheese because I have some and it reminds me of how my mom used to make lasagna. You do what you want!
5. Now - take a big scoop of sauce and slather it on the bottom of your baking pan. Layer 4 noodles across to cover the bottom. Take half of your cheesy mixture and spread all over the noodles - try to cover it evenly. Now add half of your sauce mixture. Now more noodles. Then other half of your cheese mixture. Now the rest of the sauce. And finally top with your remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese! Doesn't it look and smell good already?!
6. Cover with a piece of tin foil (I get a large piece and try to tent the top a little so the cheese doesn't melt to the tin foil - that stuff is gold!) Bake for 45 minutes. (You may want to put your baking dish on a baking tray while cooking in case it boils over during the baking process - cleaning a tray is much easier than cleaning an oven.).
7. After 45 minutes - visit your lasagna and take off the tin foil. Yum, right? Let it cook 15 minutes more.
8. Now the hard part - take the delicious lasagna out of the oven and LET IT REST for 20 minutes! What?! You wanted to eat it right away?! Me, too - but too bad - it needs to rest! If you want a soupy, runny mess of hot lasagna - then go ahead and eat it right away. But if you want a beautiful, photo-worthy cut piece of lasagna that is Pinterest worthy - just wait. Sit down and have some wine - make a salad - or garlic bread!
9. This feeds 6 big eater,s OR 8 regular eaters, OR 12 small eaters.
10. Ok - that's it! Enjoy your lasagna!
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