My favorite Lasagna

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I love lasagna - especially good lasagna. When I met Jeremy he said that was his favorite food and I see why. This recipe comes from his mom and it is delicious! I've made a couple of little changes, but other than that, it's the same. Homemade lasagna is so much better than frozen (in my opinion) and it's really not that hard. It's a little time consuming to simmer the sauce, but just make it on a day that you can be home for awhile. I usually assemble the lasagna in the morning and then just keep it in the refrigerator until I'm ready to bake it. I've also cut this recipe in half many times and it works great (in an 8x8). Sometimes I'll do the whole thing and freeze half for later and that works great too! Just double the baking time if it's frozen.


This makes a big, 4-layer, meaty, cheesy lasagna. Great for feeding a crowd! Serves 10-12. Delicious with these breadsticks.

Lasagna

14 oz. ground beef
8 oz. mild ground Italian sausage
1 1/2 c. chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
3 T. parsley flakes, divided
1 tsp. sugar
2 1/2 tsp. salt, divided
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 8 oz. package lasagna noodles
5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3 c. small-curd cottage cheese or ricotta cheese (I usually do half & half or 2:1 ricotta:cottage)

Saute ground beef, sausage, onion, and garlic until meat is cooked. Drain off fat. Add canned tomatoes and break with a fork. Stir in tomato sauce, 2 T. parsley, sugar, 1 tsp. salt and basil. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered 1 hour or until mixture is the consistency of spaghetti sauce. Prepare lasagna noodles according to package directions. If using oven-ready lasagna noodles, no preparation is necessary (I recommend this; it makes it way easier - Barilla brand is my favorite).

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix cottage/ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, 1 T. parsley, 1 1/2 tsp. salt and the oregano.

In ungreased 9x13 pan, layer 1/4 of the noodles, 1/3 of the cheese mixture, 1/4 of the meat sauce, and 1/4 of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat 2 times. Put the last layer of noodles on top. Top with remaining meat sauce and mozzarella cheese. (It will be noodles-cheese mixture-sauce-mozzarella-noodles-cheese-sauce-mozzarella-noodles-cheese-sauce-mozzarella-noodles-sauce-mozzarella). Got it? :) If using oven-ready noodles, make sure they are completely covered in sauce, otherwise they won't cook right in the oven - they'll be crispy. Yuck.

Bake uncovered for 35-45 minutes (10-15 minutes more if it's been in the refrigerator. Let stand 15 minutes after removing from oven before serving.

Source: Adapted from Debbie Nowland(Hard to get a nice clean picture of lasagna. Trust me. It's delicious).