hey, you know what's not raining or cold? lasagna!
note: this is not my lasagna. this is lasagna clipart i found on google. but we can pretend. |
i'm serious, this lasagna is amazing. it takes some serious commitment, but everything good takes a little time, right?
ingredients
1 pound mild Italian sausage
1 pound lean ground beef
3/4 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 ounce) can crushed or petite-diced tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons dried basil leaves (or thereabouts. do it to taste.)
1 tablespoons Italian seasoning (likewise, approximate. do it to taste.)
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon thyme (or regular thyme)
Salt and black pepper to taste
dash ground cinnamon (seriously, a dash. don't go overboard.)
dash red pepper flakes (optional, and you can add more if you like it spicy)
16 ounces cottage cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shredded parmesan
9-12 lasagna noodles
good mozzarella cheese, shredded. (i'll be honest, i use about a pound, give or take.)
more parmesan cheese if you want
directions
in a big stockpot, brown sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat. Stir in tomato paste, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, and water if you need it (in that order). season with sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, lemon thyme, cinnamon. add salt and pepper to taste. (don't be shy about the salt, seriously. good tomato sauce needs salt.) simmer for 1 1/2 to 6 hours. (the longer you simmer, the better, i say.)
preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
cook noodles in lightly salted water according to box directions. drain the noodles and then return them to the pot while you start to assemble things. drizzle them with oil so they don't stick.
in food processor, process cottage cheese, ½ teaspoon of salt, and egg until relatively smooth, but still a bit chunky. stir in parmesan cheese.
spread about 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. put a layer of noodles on top lengthwise. Spread with one half of the cottage cheese mixture. top with mozzarella. spoon more meat sauce over mozzarella. repeat layers—noodles, cottage cheese stuff, mozzarella, sauce. Top with more noodles and remaining sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover with foil. (to prevent sticking, spray foil with cooking spray.)
bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. remove foil and bake an additional 25 minutes. cool for 15 minutes before serving and then eat it all and lay on the floor moaning because you ate too much.
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