Lasagna

I have several lasagna recipes and, while they are all good, none of them are great and they are all somewhat cumbersome to make. I tried a new recipe from Southern Living this weekend and was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to make. It was also really good. Jory took one bite and said, "This is good. This is really good." It is a very thick lasagna, so you eat smaller pieces and the pan lasts a bit longer. I would give two caveats about this lasagna: (1) it has a lot of basil in it. I like basil, but if you don't this might not be for you and (2) it has a lot of sauce. Some people don't like really saucy lasagnas, so this wouldn't be for them. For everyone else, this is great!

Beefy Lasagna
Category: Main Dishes
Sub Category: Beef
Source: Southern Living
12 Lasagna noodles
24 oz 4% small curd cottage cheese
16 oz ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ c refrigerated pesto
1 t salt
2 ½ c shredded mozzarella, divided
1 lb lean ground beef
½ c finely chopped onion
2 24 oz jars tomato & basil pasta sauce

1. Preheat oven to 375. Prepare noodles according to package.

2. Stir together cottage cheese and next 4 ingredients. Stir in 1 c mozzarella.

3. Cook ground beef and onion in large skillet over med-high, stirring often, 6-7 minutes or until meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Stir in pasta sauce.

4. Layer 1 cup beef mixture, 3 noodles and 2 ½ c cottage cheese mixture in lightly greased 13x9 in baking dish. Top with 3 noodles, 2 c beef mixture and 3 more noodles. Top with remaining cottage cheese mixture, 3 noodles and beef mixture. Sprinkle with remaining 1 ½ c mozzarella.

5. Bake, covered, at 375 for 40-45 minutes. Uncover and bake 20 minutes or until cheese is browned. Let stand 10-15 min before serving.

Note: I used dried minced onion instead of chopping 1/2 c of onion and it worked fine.