Ingredients -
1 pound turkey meat (or 1 pound lean ground beef)
1 24 ounce jar of your favorite lasagna/spaghetti sauce
32 ounces cottage cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (1 cup in step 3 and 2 cups in step 4)
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (1/4 cup in step 3 and 1/4 cup in step 4)
12 lasagna noodles
salt and pepper to flavor
2 teaspoons dried parsley (optional)
1/4 teaspoon Basil (optional)
For cheese, 1 cup cheese equals a net weight of 4 ounces.
1 cup cheese is n. wt. 4 ounces
1/2 cup cheese is n. wt. 2 ounces
1/4 cup cheese is n. wt. 1 ounce
1/4 teaspoon Basil (optional)
For cheese, 1 cup cheese equals a net weight of 4 ounces.
1 cup cheese is n. wt. 4 ounces
1/2 cup cheese is n. wt. 2 ounces
1/4 cup cheese is n. wt. 1 ounce
Instructions -
1. Cook meat in skillet
2. Boil lasagna noodles for 10-15 minutes. Drain water, and let noodles cool.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the 1 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup sauce. This is the Topping Mix used in Step 13.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the 1 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup sauce. This is the Topping Mix used in Step 13.
4. In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups mozzarella cheese, all the cottage cheese, eggs, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, along with the optional salt, pepper, basil, and parsley as desired. This is the Cheese Mix.
5. In a 13x9 casserole dish, cover the bottom with 1/2 cup sauce.
6. Pour all the remaining sauce, 2 cups, in with the cooked meat and stir it all together and let simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Place 3 noodles side by side in the casserole dish over the 1/2 cup sauce.
8. Cover the noodles with 1/3 of the cheese mix.
Note - 1/3 of the cheese-mix is about 2 cups.
Note - 1/3 of the cheese-mix is about 2 cups.
9. Cover this with 1/3 of the meat-sauce mix
10. Add another layer of 3 noodles, 1/3 of the cheese mix (about 2 cups), and 1/3 of the meat-sauce mix.
11. Add 3 more noodles, 1/3 of the cheese mix (about 2 cups), and 1/3 of the meat-sauce mix.
11. Add 3 more noodles, 1/3 of the cheese mix (about 2 cups), and 1/3 of the meat-sauce mix.
12. Add 3 more noodles on the top.
13. Cover the top noodles with the topping mix from Step 4.
14. Cover casserole dish with foil and cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
15. Take foil off and cook another 10 minutes
16. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
17. Enjoy.
Mark's Story -
Everyone in our family loves lasagna. We've normally just gotten a Stouffer's family lasagna and tossed that in the oven. Lasagna has always eluded me because I cannot find a simple basic lasagna dish. All the lasagna recipes are super complicated adding lots and lots of this and that. I don't want that. I was actually frustrated that in all my cookbooks, there were no basic simple recipes. I wanted an easy lasagna recipe. I found this one on at allrecipes.com. I made a few changes to it.
Mark's Notes -
The original instructions said to layer the bottom of the casserole dish with the sauce mix. I actually layered it with some of the cheese mix - this was not on purpose.
If you want more meat in the lasagna, I think it would be safe to add another pound of turkey meat to it. I'll try that in one of my future batches.
The first batch was a little watery as I didn't cover it with foil at first for the first 45 minutes of baking.
If you want more meat in the lasagna, I think it would be safe to add another pound of turkey meat to it. I'll try that in one of my future batches.
The first batch was a little watery as I didn't cover it with foil at first for the first 45 minutes of baking.
The next batch I made turned out really well. Everyone liked it. Abby asked me to make it again. That's always a win.
Here is the original recipe. Like I said, I made some modifications to it.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/12011/easy-lasagna-ii/
Here is the original recipe. Like I said, I made some modifications to it.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/12011/easy-lasagna-ii/
