Everyone's Favorite Lasagna

Total Time: 3 hrs 20 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs 30 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 (28 ounce) cans italian style plum tomatoes, drained with juices
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 15 plain lasagna noodles or 15 spinach lasagna noodles
• 1 (15 ounce) container cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded

Recipe

• 1 heat the olive oil in a large wide saucepan; add the ground beef, onion and garlic.
• 2 sauté, stirring, over medium meat until the meat is browned.
• 3 add the tomatoes, tomato paste and sauce, basil and oregano.
• 4 cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-low heat until sauce is cooked down and thickened, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
• 5 there should be about 4 cups of sauce.
• 6 season with salt and pepper.
• 7 cook the lasagna noodles in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente, about 12 minutes; drain.
• 8 place noodles in a bowl of cool water until ready to use.
• 9 beat the cottage cheese, parmesan and egg together; set aside.
• 10 heat oven to 350°f.
• 11 add about 1/2 cup of sauce to bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• 12 lift the noodles from the water individually and blot dry on paper towels.
• 13 arrange a slightly overlapping layer of 5 noodles on the bottom of the dish.
• 14 cover the noodles with half the ricotta mix; add about 1/3 of the sauce and 1/3 of the mozzarella.
• 15 arrange a second layer of 5 noodles.
• 16 add the remaining ricotta, half of the remaining sauce and half of the remaining mozzarella.
• 17 top with the remaining 5 noodles, the remaining sauce and the last of the mozzarella.
• 18 bake until the cheese is melted and the mixture is bubbly, about 50 minutes.
• 19 let stand at least 15 minutes before serving.