Brian's Lasagna Recipe
Recipe Ingredients
1 lb. lasagna noodles, cooked according to pkg. directions and drained1/2 to 3/4 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 lb. hot or sweet Italian sausage
1 lg. jar Ragu or other commercial spaghetti sauce
1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
3/4 tsp. oregano, crushed
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb. Ricotta cheese (do not substitute cottage cheese for this)
1/2 lb. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
4 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. oregano, crushed
1 sm. can tomato sauce
Cooking Directions
Remove sausage from casings and brown with ground beef, crumbling meat as it browns. Drain on paper towels and return to skillet with spaghetti sauce, salt and oregano. Squeeze excess water from spinach and add to skillet, if desired. Simmer, uncovered, for at least 15 minutes, and stir a little. Mix remaining ingredients, except tomato sauce.To assemble, use 13x9x2-inch pan or two smaller casseroles. Put in a little tomato sauce to cover bottom of pan. Layer noodles, cheese filling, noodles, meat filling and noodles, allowing ends of noodles to extend up the sides of the pan. Top with tomato sauce and extra Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
This makes a lasagna that is firm, not runny. It freezes well, and the taste of the spinach is very mild, for those who are not fond of spinach. You can substitute part-skim cheeses (but not cottage cheese), ground turkey for the beef, and egg substitute.