My Lasagna Recipe

This is an easy, well loved family recipe (Just ask Kim, it is one of her favourites).

The key ingredient to my lasagna is using Fresh Lasagna noodles. None of the hard, boil forever noodles. Not that they aren’t good, especially if you are in a pinch, they just aren’t anywhere near as good as when you use fresh pasta!

Below is my step by step recipe for how I make lasagna, and I can tell you that it doesn’t last long when it comes out of the oven!

Sandie

The first thing I do is make the sauce. I use the same sauce that I use for spaghetti. I brown ground beef and onions with garlic, basil, oregano and salt and pepper, with a tiny bit of olive oil. When that is cooked, I add the canned spaghetti sauce, a big can of diced tomatoes and 3 of those little cans of tomato paste. Mix it all together, heat through and you have spaghetti sauce, or the sauce I use in my lasagna!

I already had some sauce made and frozen so I didn’t need to show those ingredients but will list them below.

The next step is to grate the mozzarella in one bowl and mix the cottage cheese with the 3 eggs in another and set aside. The egg and cottage cheese mixture will sort of look like scrambled eggs.

Once this is done you start the layering part. I always put about a cup of the sauce in the bottom of the prepared pan so that the bottom layer of pasta doesn’t stick or dry out.

The first layer is the pasta/lasagna noodles. Try to cover the majority of the sauce at the bottom of the pan. ( I bend the corners of the pasta so that they don’t affect the other layers, it looks neater too)

Next layer is the meat sauce. Cover the noodles completely with it.

The cottage cheese goes on next, topped off with 1 1/2 cups of the grated mozzarella. You can use more cheese if you like, it will just make it cheesier and nice and gooey!

This is where it gets really difficult…. repeat the last three steps! When you are done with adding the cheese, add another layer of pasta and cover with the remaining cup of meat sauce.

Top with the remaining 1 cup of grated mozzarella, parmesan and the other 1tsp of oregano. (I also like to add cheddar to the top for colour and taste)

Cover with foil, tented a bit down the centre and place in preheated oven. Bake for 30 minutes then remove foil and cook for another ten minutes if you like a crispy top. (Leave the foil on if you don’t want it crispy on top)

Serve with a salad and some nice fresh bread! Serves 6.

(See, they couldn’t even wait for me to take a picture before they started to dig in!)

Sandie

My Lasagna Recipe

Preparation Time: 45 minutes (including making sauce)

Cook Time: 45 minutes Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 lb. Ground Beef (or Turkey)
1 598ml Can Spaghetti or Tomato Sauce
1 798ml Can Diced Tomatoes
3 Little cans Tomato Paste
1 Medium Onion Diced
Fresh or powdered Garlic to taste (I like lots)
1 Tsp. Fresh or Dried Basil
2 Tsp. Fresh or Dried Oregano, divided
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil (Optional)
1 Package Fresh Lasagna Sheets
1 500ml tub Cottage Cheese
3 Large Eggs
4 Cups Grated Mozzarella, divided
1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 x 13 baking pan.
Brown ground beef and onions with garlic, basil, 1 tsp.oregano and salt and pepper, with a tiny bit of olive oil in the frying pan.
Set aside a cup of sauce to top the last layer of lasagna.
When that is cooked, I add the canned spaghetti sauce, a big can of diced tomatoes and 3 of those little cans of tomato paste. (Mix it all together, heat through and you have spaghetti sauce, or the sauce I use in my lasagna!)
Whisk together the 3 Large eggs and the full tub of Cottage Cheese until it resembles scrambled eggs. Set aside.
Grate mozzarella, set aside about a cup for the last step.
To start, spread about 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of your prepared pan.
Add your first layer of fresh lasagna noodles over the sauce in the bottom of the pan.
Next layer is the meat sauce. Cover the noodles completely with it.
The cottage cheese goes on next, spread all over the sauce layer, trying to cover it all.
Top off with 1 1/2 cups of the grated mozzarella
Repeat the last 3 steps again.
Finish with a last layer of the fresh lasagna, making sure to cover the whole surface..
Spread the 1 cup of saved sauce all over the layer of pasta, covering evenly.
Sprinkle with the last of the mozzarella (and the cheddar if you wish)
Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese and then the rest of the oregano.
Cover with foil, tenting it down the middle.
Place in preheated oven. Cook for 30 minutes.
If you prefer a crispier top, remove foil and cook an additional 10 minutes.