Lasagna. One of my favorite foods of all time. My mother (R&R’s grammy) makes the absolute best lasagna. For our wedding, she laminated a bunch of recipes written by the women in my family and put them into a recipe box. The lasagna recipe card is always in front and has been used more times than I can count. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Even though I am lactose intolerant, I often will forgo any worries about tummy aches to have a piece of this lasagna. It’s just THAT good. I’ll never be able to give it up.
My mom uses cottage cheese in the recipe below but I have often substituted it with ricotta cheese and it’s just as creamy.
1.5 lb ground beef
Box of OVEN READY lasagna noodles (in a 9×13 dish, I use 9 noodles)
15 oz cottage cheese (or ricotta)
8 oz bag shredded Mozzarella
2 jars of Traditional Prego pasta sauce (about 45 oz)
4 oz (1/2 bag) shredded Parmesan or Italian cheese blend
Brown beef in a non stick pan until cooked through. Drain grease and add meat back into the pan. Add tomato sauce to the pan, stir to combine.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a 9×13 pan, start to layer your lasagna. I have everything sitting next to the lasagna dish – opened bags of cheese, noodles ready to go, and the pan of meat sauce.
Layer:
Meat sauce
Noodles
Cottage/Ricotta cheese (I spread this layer with my hands – don’t be afraid to get messy!)
Mozzarella cheese
Meat Sauce
Noodles
Cottage/Ricotta cheese
Noodles
Mozzarella cheese
Meat sauce
Shredded Parmesan or Italian blend cheese
Bake for 30-45 minutes until the cheese on top is bubbly.
TIPS!
– Oven ready noodles are hard when you put them in the dish. Make sure sauce and cheese covers the ENTIRETY of the noodle layer so that it cooks evenly. Otherwise, there will be crusty edges and it won’t cut correctly.
– Do NOT be shy to use a lot of cheese, a lot of sauce, and a lot of the cottage/ricotta. Yummy thick layers are the best!
Serve with crispy focaccia bread, salad, and a nice glass of red wine!
