What's For Dinner?
So I was making homemade lasagna for the first time in years the other day, and one of my daycare darlings asked if she could have the recipe for her mom cuz her mom's lasagna comes frozen from the store. LOL So I thought I would just share my recipe here for anyone who wants to try it. I totally forgot to take pictures while I was making it, so I will make a mental note to do that next time. It's no big secret, and honestly it would probably make a true Italian laugh, but this recipe developed over my first few years of being a housewife, way back when....
This makes a HUGE, THICK lasagna that feeds my family of 6, with leftovers. There's really no hard and fast rule about the quantities of the ingredients, just adjust the amount to suit your needs.
2 lbs. lean ground beef
500g cottage cheese
500g ricotta cheese
2 cups italian blend shredded cheese, divided
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
7 cups (1.75L) pasta sauce - Prego has a large jar/bottle (that's what I use for this recipe)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
1 can tomato paste
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove pressed garlic
Italian seasonings, to taste
Lasagna noodles (I use the "ready-to-bake" kind for convenience, but traditional boil-em-first noodles work too.)
In a large saucepan, heat a enough cooking oil to coat the bottom of the pot, over high heat until hot. Add onion and garlic. Stir frequently while cooking, until onions are semi-translucent. (MMMMMmmmm... smells good!) Reduce heat to med-high and mix in ground beef. Stir often until meat is almost browned. Add diced tomatoes (including liquid) and seasonings to taste. Let simmer until all meat is cooked.
Once meat is completely brown, add pasta sauce, tomato soup, and tomato paste. Add more seasoning at this point if you want. Heat until bubbling, stirring often, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer. The longer it simmers the more the flavours blend together, but if you are pressed for time, it doesn't have to be very long at all. It's also important to keep in mind that if you are using the "ready-to-bake" noodles the sauce needs to have a lot of liquid to it (this is what softens the noodles as they cook), so don't simmer too long otherwise the liquid will reduce. If this happens you can add a little water (or I prefer vegetable broth for better flavour) back into the sauce. If you are using cooked pasta this won't be a concern for you, but now would be a good time to boil the noodles.
In a mixing bowl, combine all cheeses together, but be sure to set aside about 1 cup of shredded cheese. Slowly mix in spinach. Set aside.
To assemble the lasagna, start with a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a DEEP 9x13 baking dish. Alternate layers of sauce and the cheese mix, with noodles between each layer. Typically the layers will go as follows:
(bottom)
NOODLES
SAUCE
NOODLES
½ CHEESE MIX
SHREDDED CHEESE
NOODLES
SAUCE
NOODLES
½ CHEESE MIX
SHREDDED CHEESE
NOODLES
SAUCE
SHREDDED CHEESE
(top)
At this point if I've used the uncooked noodles I let the lasagna sit for while to soften the noodles a little.
Preheat oven to 425ºF. Just before putting the lasagna in the oven cover it with a piece of "tented" foil over the entire dish to prevent the cheese from burning. Bake on middle rack of oven for 25-50 mins, until heated through. The cooking time will depend on how thick your meat sauce is. Remove the foil for the last 7 mins of cooking to brown up the cheese.
When done, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 mins before serving with a nice thick slice of toasted garlic loaf. Mmmmmm!
If you try my recipe, please let me know how it turns out. Enjoy! :)
