All That Cheese? Let's Make Lasagna

Lasagna is a great meal. It is fairly simple, it just takes some time to put together. Way back when I first tried making it, the recipe said to boil the noodles first which is one more step. Then on one of the lasagna noodle boxes I bought it said to put the noodles in uncooked and add 3/4 cup water as the last step. I tried it and it worked great! I have used that recipe ever since. It saves a step, time and energy. My kind of recipe.

 Ingredients

The ground meat is our chevron, the tomatoes we canned a few years ago (which need to be used up) the bowl has cottage cheese I made a few days ago, and the mozzarella we made last summer and froze.

I start out making the sauce. I make it just like I make spaghetti sauce. Start off browning the ground meat.

Add one large can of tomato sauce and one jar of canned tomatoes.


Add the spices. This will remind you of the post on making pizza.

Parsley

Oregano

Basil

Garlic

We buy dried onions in bulk, too.

Onions


Let simmer.

Grate the mozzarella. It calls for three cups, but I don't measure it anymore. This is mozzarella that we made last July. It keeps well in the freezer and since we are making more and stocking up the freezer for the coming year, I need to use up last year's cheese.

Mix two cups of the mozzarella with two cups of cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of Parmesan, and three tablespoons of parsley - more or less. 

I made this cottage cheese and it is probably the best yet....but it still isn't very good. I will post the next batch I make to show you how.

Mix the remaining mozzarella with 1/4 cup of Parmesan.  




The original recipe was enough to fill a standard 9x13 baking dish. I have one that is 10x14 (I think) that I use for most casseroles and lasagna so I can make a larger batch and freeze the extra.

The recipe calls for a layer of sauce then four noodles. I have extra room......

So I fill this space with more noodles.

Add half of the cheese mixture......


 

more sauce....

More noodles....

The last half of the cheese mixture (I had too much so we get to use the rest in another meal.)..........

  
Add the last of the sauce and the mozzarella and Parmesan mixture. See the cup of water? I have forgotten this last step more than once and ended up with kind of chewy noodles.
Pour 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water around the edge of the pan. The amount of water will depend on how 'wet' you like your lasagna. Some like it kind of oozing out and others like it to be able to 'stand' on it's own when it is cut and served. You will need to adjust to your own taste.

Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes.

Let sit for 10 minutes before serving - well, usually. We needed to be somewhere, so I didn't let this set for very long before serving. Looks yummy, doesn't it?





When I was young and newly married, the thought of making lasagna was too intimidating. I thought it was too complicated and fancy for my abilities. When I finally got up the courage to try, it was much easier than I dreamed! I had built it up in my mind as something that was too difficult to do. 

What is it that you really want to try to do but haven't? Are you afraid you might fail? Are you limiting yourself by thinking something is beyond your capabilities? Try something new. Something you are interested in that will benefit you and your family. And after you have succeeded, and you will if you set your mind to it, share it with someone else.

Until next time - Fern