3 Cheese Lasagna
Serving: 8-10
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Meat Sauce:
1 to 1¼ lean ground beef
⅓ cup onion, finely diced
2-3 garlic cloves, pressed
¼ cup red wine (any kind)
2 Tbsp olive oil
16 oz (1/2 of a 24 oz can) Newmans Own Marinara
¼ tsp thyme (optional)
2 bay leaves (optional)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp sugar
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
6-8 lasagna noodles, cooked aldente according to package instructions.
Ingredients for Cheese Sauce:
16 oz reduced fat ricotta
16 oz low-fat cottage cheese
⅓ cup milk
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 large egg
4 cups (1 lb) grated mozzarella cheese (divided)
Instructions
How to make meat sauce:
In a large pot, add 2 Tbsp olive oil and simmer chopped onions over medium heat about 5 minutes.
Add pressed garlic and saute additional 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add ground beef and saute until all pink is gone.
Add 1 cup marinara, and add ¼ cup wine. Mix well and cook for a few minutes.
Add 1 cup of marinara, 2 bay leaves (if using), ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp black pepper, ¼ tsp thyme (if using), ½ tsp sugar, and 2 Tbsp parsley. Mix well, reduce heat, COVER and simmer (15-20 or as long as it takes to cook noodles and make the cheese sauce.)
How to Make Cheese Sauce:
Combine 16 oz Ricotta, 16 oz Cottage Cheese, ⅓ cup milk, 2 Tbsp parsley, 1 egg and only 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Mix well.
Lasagna Assembly Instructions: Preheat the Oven to 375°F.
Spread a couple tablespoons of meat sauce in the bottom of your 9x13 pyrex baking dish.
Place 3-4 noodles on the bottom of the dish so that the edges are touching each other. My dish fit 3 noodles. Now add everything else in the following order:
Half the Meat sauce, Half the Cheese Sauce, One cup grated mozzarella, sprinkled evenly, Three to four noodles, Half of the Meat sauce, Half of the Cheese sauce, The rest of the grated mozzarella
Line the top of the lasagna with 9 to 12 toothpicks, evenly spaced. Cover the top with foil (it doesn't have to be air tight). Bake 45 minutes at 375°F.
Remove foil and broil for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until cheese turns golden. Let it cool at least 30 min or it will ooze too much.
