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Faith's Lasagna (freezer friendly)




Source of Recipe


Faith


Recipe Introduction


This is a tried and true, many times over, recipe, that originated with my mother but has been recreated by me to have less cheese and less calories without a loss of flavor.


List of Ingredients




6-7 cups spaghetti sauce (divided into 1 cup portions - homemade or jarred)
8 oz ricotta cheese
8 oz cottage cheese
12 ounces mozzarella
3 oz. parmesan cheese
1 lb ground meat (sausage, ground beef, turkey, or combination of), optional
9-12 lasagna noodles, UNCOOKED, any kind

Recipe



If using, brown meat and drain, set aside. Mix together ricotta and cottage cheeses in a medium sized bowl, set aside. Spray 13 x 9 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Heat oven to 375º.

Layer ingredients in the pan as follows:

sauce, noodles, sauce (spread to cover noodles), dot w/ spoonfuls of cottage cheese/ricotta mixture (see notes), meat, mozarella, and parmesan. Push down gently on the lasagna noodles as you add each layer. Repeat until pan is about 3/4 full. The last layer of noodles, cover with sauce, mozarella, and parmesan. I usually end up with four total layers of noodles.

Bake, covered, for 45 to 55 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Remove foil and continue to bake until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes (at least) - the noodles will absorb the extra liquid from the sauce, if you cut into it too early you'll get a goopy mess.

Notes: This is a very forgiving recipe! Just make sure to completely cover the noodles with the sauce so they cook evenly, and be careful not to use more than 7 cups, since it can get soupy. Poke it with a knife to make sure the noodles are tender - if not, just stick it back in the oven until they are.

To make the ricotta/cottage cheese mixture easier to deal with, I usually spoon it into a ziploc bag, snip the corner, and pipe it on in four long lines. It spreads out when you push down the noodles. Much quicker than spooning it on.

You can freeze this uncooked (or cooked). I usually make two pans and freeze one for later - I've also made it for my dad - let it freeze through (uncooked), then cut it into individual portions for him.