Homemade lasagna

Heads up….you’re going to want to stop what you’re doing right now and start making a grocery list of the things you’ll need to make this recipe. You’re going to want to make this one. Its 1000% the best lasagna recipe I have ever had! It was given to me from a sweet client about 10 years ago when doing nails. She jotted it down on a piece of paper and gave it to me. I’ve never lost it, and boy am I glad!

I will tell you this, when I make this recipe I feel like it is a true labor of love. Its a little more involved than whipping up something quick but thats also what I love about it. I get to pour my heart and soul into a recipe that I know people will enjoy! I don’t make it all that often because it has more steps than the regular recipe but when I do make it I make one ahead or even two so I can enjoy it later. This recipe makes one 9×13 but can easily be split up between two of the smaller oblong pans.

My heart about melted last night as my kid showered me with compliments over it and had more than one of their typically small servings. I always start with a small serving so food isn’t wasted. My heart always jumps for joy when they go back to the pan! My kids have(more times than I can count) told me something was disgusting, or gross, or my personal favorite is when they turn their nose up at it before they even try it. Yes include a big eye roll right here. Last night they didn’t do this though, in fact Ryler told Branden during the day how he was trying to get excited for lasagna because he hates it and he ranted and raved about it. I was definitely grateful for their kind word and big appetites.

There are a couple things I want to mention with this recipe-

*You can buy the oven ready noodles or the ones you have to cook, either will be fine.

*Fresh herbs are always best but I use dried because I always have them on hand.

*Small curd cottage cheese is my favorite for this recipe.

*If you want a chunkier tomato sauce, use diced tomatoes- I prefer crushed.

 

Ingredients:

12 Lasagna noodles

For the meat layer

1 lb ground beef

1 Tbsp parsley flakes

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp basil

1/4 rsp oregano

1/4 tsp rosemary

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 lb can crushed tomatoes

12 oz can tomato paste

For the Cheese Layers

3 cups cottage cheese

2 beaten eggs

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

2 tsp parsley flakes

1/2 cup parmesan chees

12 slices American cheese

3 cups mozarella cheese

Instructions:

1. Brown meat and drain.
2. Add next 8 ingredients(parsley flakes, garlic powder, basil, oregano, rosemary, salt, tomatoes and tomato paste) and simmer 20 minutes.
3. Put lasagna noodles in salted water and cook 15 minutes, drain and rinse in cold water.
4. Mix togethers the cheese layer ingredients(cottage cheese, eggs, pepper, salt, parsley and parmesan)

Layer in the pan

Bottom layer-lay this down first starting at 1. then work your way down the list as you layer on top of each other.

1. Noodles
2. 1/2 cheese mixture
3. slices of American cheese
4. 1/2 meat sauce
5. noodles
6. 1/2 cheese mixture
7. 2 cups mozarella cheese
8. 1/2 meat sauce
9. remaining mozzarella cheese

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. I placed a small baking sheet under my casserole dish to prevent any overflowing of juices.

Let it sit for 10 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!