Mom’s Lasagna

I just realized, much to my horror, that I did not include my mom’s lasagna recipe in the cookbooks I made for my family last year!

I put this together this afternoon for our dinner tonight. It was so easy because I had the sauce frozen and thawed it yesterday…that’s my best tip for this recipe. Because making the sauce is time-consuming, it’s a good idea to double the batch, and then freeze it in portions you’ll use. I freeze it in half-recipe portions because otherwise we’d be eating lasagna for several meals, and none of us does that well with leftovers. Then, on a day like today that’s going to be crazy because of Luke’s ballgame, I have a good meal ready to go in almost no time.

Here’s the recipe for one 9×13″ pan:

1 lb ground beef (I use the leanest possible)
garlic salt
1 T parsley flakes
1/2 T basil
14.5 oz can tomatoes (I use petite diced)
6 oz can tomato paste
(you can also add in finely chopped carrots or carrot puree and no one will be the wiser)
10 oz lasagna noodles (about 12 noodles)
24 oz low-fat cottage cheese
2 beaten eggs
pepper
2 T parsley (of course, you can use fresh, too!)
1/2 c parmesan cheese
2 cups (or however much you want) mozzarella cheese – the original recipe calls for a pound of cheese, but I’ve never come close to using that much

Brown the meat; drain. Add the next 5 ingredients. Simmer uncovered, about 1 hour, stirring occasionally (this can be a little bit messy). Cook noodles for 8 minutes, rinse in cold water. Combine cottage cheese with next 4 ingredients. Place half of the noodles in a 13×9 pan, spread half the cottage cheese mixture and a cup of cheese over the top. Add half of the meat mixture. Repeat layers. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.