Homemade Lasagna

Ingredients

FOR THE SAUCE

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 lbs lean or extra lean ground beef
• 1 medium finely chopped onion
• 1 can 580 ml Hunt’s tomato sauce
• 1 small can Hunt’s tomato paste
• 10 fresh white mushrooms finely sliced
• 2 fresh garlic cloves finely cut or squeezed with a garlic press
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano flakes (or fresh if you have it)
• 1/4 cup water – to add to the sauce IF necessary
• We want the sauce to be fairly thick, sometimes there is enough moisture from the fried onions & mushrooms to make the sauce the right consistency, but if its super thick, you can add just a wee bit of water.
• salt and pepper to taste

FOR THE FILLER LAYER

• 1 egg
• 1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese or dry baking cottage cheese
• 4 ounces of fresh spinach – steam cook for a few minutes then drain and squeeze the water out.
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

THE NOODLES

• 12 lasagna noodles

FOR THE LAYERS

• 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese grated
• 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese grated
• Fresh parsley for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F|

The Sauce

1. In a skillet
2. Saute the onions and garlic in the butter,
3. Add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the ground beef and cook until there is no pink.
5. Add all the wet sauce ingredients and let simmer for 15 minutes.

The Filler

1. Mix all the filler ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

The Noodles

1. Large pot of water to a boil
2. Drop in the lasagna noodles and cook until soft but not mushy
3. Drain the water and then replace with cold water so the noodles can cool for handling. Leave the noodles sitting in the cold water.

Assembly Instructions

1. Arrange in a lasagna pan.
2. Bottom Layer: ½ the meat sauce
3. Next layer: 4 cooked lasagna noodles
4. Next layer: cottage cheese spinach filler layer and sprinkle the parmesan cheese on this layer
5. Next layer: 4 cooked lasagna noodles
6. Next layer: the remaining meat sauce and ½ of the grated cheeses
7. Next layer: 4 cooked lasagna noodles
8. Top Layer: Put the rest of the grated cheese on the top layer.
9. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
10. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until cheese is lightly brown and bubbly.
11. Watch you don’t burn the cheese!!!
12. You can garnish with some chopped parsley.
13. Let the lasagna cool for about 5-10 minutes so it can set.