Classic Meat Lasagna

I wanted to post something amazing for my first recipe of 2012. I actually have a number of other dishes that I have made over the past several days, but I am glad that I procrastinated updating the blog because this one was truly incredible. My husband actually gave it a 10 without me even asking what he thought.

We are really big fans of Stouffer's lasagna. In fact, we were pretty sure that no homemade lasagna could even compare. Besides, why spend hours in the kitchen when you can get one that tasted that good from the frozen foods section at the grocery store? Well, I thought I would go out on a limb and try making my own and I think it actually tops Stouffer's. The best part is that it wasn't nearly as time consuming as I had feared - especially because I prepared it in advanced and stored it in the refrigerator until baking time. It was HUGE so we froze half of it right off the bat and we still had a couple of meals of leftovers. If you are baking for 2 or 4, you may want to cut this recipe in half and make it in a square pan rather than a 9x13.

Sauce:

1/2 - 1 lb ground sausage

1 lb ground beef

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp dried basil

1 1/2 - 2 24 oz jars pasta sauce (I used Prego)

Ricotta Mixture:

16 oz ricotta cheese

8 oz cottage cheese

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp oregano

16 lasagna noodles, prepared according to directions on package

1 lb mozzarella cheese, grated or sliced

1 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

In a large pan, cook meat, onion, and garlic over medium heat until meat is browned and onion is soft. Add Italian seasoning, basil, and pasta sauce and reduce to a simmer. Allow to simmer while lasagna noodles are boiling and while you are stirring the cheese mixture together in a medium bowl.

To assemble, spread about 1 cup of the sauce on the bottom of a deep 9x13" pan. Top with 4 lasagna noodles (3 will fit, but I used 4 and overlapped them a bit). Spread ricotta mixture over top of noodles, top with mozzarella cheese and another layer of meat sauce, then 1/4 cup Parmesan. Repeat layers and top with remaining mozarella and Parmesan cheese. This should be enough for 4 layers, although the pan might only fit 3.

Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 30 minutes.