Barbara’s Lasagna
I don’t eat a lot of lasagna myself but it is my husband’s favorite meal. I make this at least monthly. I use cottage cheese instead of ricotta (more protein and less fat.) The meat can be changed up. I tend to use 1 pound of ground pork and 1 pound of ground beef but you can use all pork or all beef if you desire. I get a lot of ground pork from my farmer so I always have a lot of it in the freezer so I go half and half. I also add just a touch of organ meats to the ground meat. I know that may sound gross to some people, but liver is so healthy. The taste is powerful but adding a little in a dish like this, you can barely taste it. I have used regular pasta lasagna noodles and have also used gluten free. Both taste great to me and my husband can’t tell either way. You can also add some pureed carrots to the sauce if you like. A great way to hide vegetables in dishes. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do.
Ingredients
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
30-32 ounces spaghetti sauce
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend (can be skipped)
1 egg
16 ounces cottage cheese (4% milkfat and large curd is best)
16 ounces mozzarella cheese
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 - 8-9 ounce box of “no boil” lasagna noodles
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine pork and ground beef in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat; cook and stir until browned and crumbly. Stir in garlic, Italian seasoning and salt and cook for a few minutes more. Stir in pasta sauce.
In a large bowl, mix egg, cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese and nutmeg.
In a large baking dish (9x13inch), arrange 1/3 of the noodles on the bottom of the pan. (I do not spray the dish with oil, but you can if you wish.) Spread 1/3 of meat/sauce mixture on top of noodles. Spread 1/3 of cottage cheese mixture on top of the sauce. Repeat this layering until all ingredients are used up. Typically 3 times.
Cover with foil and bake in oven for one hour. Take out of oven and cover with Parmesan cheese and put back in the oven for 10 minutes. This last 10 minutes can be skipped. Lasagna is fully cooked after one hour.
Let lasagna rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.