The Pioneer Woman's Lasagna

This is pretty hard for me to believe, but I had never cooked a lasagna before until I cooked this one! Matt and I were heading out of town for the weekend and I wanted to leave our babysitters with something good to eat while we were gone.  I decided to try my hand at a lasagna because I always think of lasagna as making awesome leftovers!  Plus it's delicious for either lunch or dinner.  

I did a little googling and decided to try the Pioneer Woman's lasagna that she claims is the.best.ever. I was actually a little turned off by some of the ingredients at first because they seemed a little unusual; but the more I kept reading, the more I became convinced.  I added a little of my own flair, but everyone agreed this was delicious.  The biggest ingredient that scared me was cottage cheese because I just don't like it! I ended up using it and the truth is that you would never know that it's cottage cheese instead of ricotta.  Give it a try and don't let it scare you :)

Pioneer Woman Lasagna

via 

Prep: 30 Minutes Level: Easy 

Cook: 30 Minutes Serves: 12 

Ingredients

1-1/2 pound Ground Beef

1 pound Hot Breakfast Sausage (I used Jimmy Dean)

2 cloves Garlic, Minced

2 cans (14.5 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes

2 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste

2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley

2 Tablespoons Dried Basil

1 teaspoon Salt

3 cups Lowfat Cottage Cheese

2 whole Beaten Eggs

1/2 cup Grated (not Shredded) Parmesan Cheese

2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley

1 teaspoon Salt

1 pound Sliced Mozzarella Cheese (this is the packaged deli sliced mozzarella)

1 package (10 Ounce) Lasagna Noodles  (I used the "no bake" kind)

(add 1/2 Teaspoon Salt And 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil To Pasta Water)
I topped mine with fresh mozzarella as you can see in the photo below and I think that is critical.  It makes it so delicious!! 

Preparation

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan, combine ground beef, sausage, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain half the fat; less if you’re feeling naughty. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons parsley, basil and salt. After adding the tomatoes, the sauce mixture should simmer for 45 minutes while you are working on the other steps.

In a medium bowl, mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, grated Parmesan, 2 more tablespoons parsley, and 1 more teaspoon salt. Stir together well. Set aside. Cook lasagna until “al dente” (not overly cooked).

To assemble:

Arrange 4 cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of a baking pan, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Spread evenly. Cover cottage cheese with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Spoon a little less than half the meat/sauce mixture over the top.

Repeat, ending with meat/sauce mixture. Sprinkle top generously with extra Parmesan.

Either freeze, refrigerate for up to two days, or bake immediately: 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until top is hot and bubbly.

What's your favorite lasagna recipe????