Lasagna!

This recipe was found on allrecipes.com, and though it has several steps and a few things going on at once, there wasn't anything difficult about making it! The recipe was copied directly from the website, and my additions/suggestions can be found in yellow.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 (28 ounce) jar sausage flavored spaghetti sauce
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 (8 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 8 ounces provolone cheese, shredded
• 1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 9 lasagna noodles
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

The Ricotta can be difficult to find for some... because it's usually located in the same area as cottage cheese. We had this problem when we looked everywhere BUT there before we found it. Also- a lot of recipes use cottage cheese instead, so if you can't find ricotta, that can be substituted, but I'd recommend mixing it to get the smooth texture.

A few other ingredient suggestions: Newman's Own Italian Sausage-Peppers sauce is what I used for the spaghetti sauce, and it was PERFECT! It has big chunks of Italian sausage and peppers, which gives the Lasagna even more texture/substance. I also found a mix-package of Italian cheeses, which I substituted for the Mozzarella/Provolone. Both of these cheese are going to be in an Italian blend, but it also contains Asiago, Fontina, and Parmesan to give it more flavor. The same for the parmesan cheese- you can usually find this mixture in the cans of that.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a skillet over medium heat season ground beef with garlic powder and oregano. Brown the meat and drain.
3. In a skillet heat olive oil. Saute garlic and onions for about 5 minutes (I just added the onions, garlic, and olive oil to the same pan as the meat once it was close to done and then sauteed... it may take a few more minutes but there's not need to use an entire new pan!). Mix both sauces into sauteed onions and garlic with meat and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, boil pot of salted water and cook lasagna noodles as directed. It's good to add a few extra noodles just in case the situation pictured below happens and noodles get stuck to the bottom of the pan and are unusable.
4. Combine mozzarella and provolone cheeses in a medium bowl (If you bought the Italian cheese blend, there's no need to use a bowl to mix these and you can use them directly from the bag!). In a medium bowl mix ricotta cheese, eggs, milk, and oregano until smooth and well blended. (This can be done with just a fork, as if you were scrambling eggs)
5. Layer a 9x13 inch baking pan with just enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan. Lay three lasagna noodles in the pan. Cover with sauce, then with ricotta mixture then sprinkle with mozzarella/provolone mixture; repeat layering. Finish with a layer of noodles and remaining sauce. (I added another layer of the Mozzarella/Provolone before the parmesan since I went a little light throughout the layers, and to give it a smoother look once it has been cooked). Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
6. Bake covered in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes.
   

This recipe can also be made ahead of time and then refrigerated until ready to cook!!

(Prior to cooking)
(Post cooking)



Pair it with some French Bread toasted in the oven at the same temp as the lasagna for about ten minutes, a salad, and you're good to go!!!