Sauce Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon whole basil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cans (15 ounces) diced tomatoes
2 cans (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 box lasagna noodles (I use about 8 noodles, and save the remaining)
Cheese Layer Ingredients:
3 cups cottage cheese (I puree in food processor, but that's optional)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
2 Tablespoons parsley flakes
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 pound Mozzarella cheese, shredded or sliced very thin
Directions:
Brown the ground beef in a large, deep skillet. Stir in remaining sauce ingredients, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
Place a large pot of water on heat, and bring to a boil. Cook the lasagna noodles as per package directions. Once done, drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking process.
Place all the Cheese Layer ingredients in a bowl, and stir to combine well.
Preheat oven to 375° F.
Grease a 9" x 13" pan. I put a very small amount of thinned sauce in the bottom.
Place 4 lasagna noodles in the pan, sides overlapping slightly if necessary.
Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles evenly.
Top with half of the Mozzarella cheese.
Dot the meat sauce over all, and carefully spread to cover evenly.
Repeat layers ending with sauce.
Bake for 30 minutes, then let cool for 10 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.
My notes: This is from a community cookbook I received as a wedding gift. Back then ethnic food ingredients were not as readily available in local grocers as they are today. Ricotta is probably a more authentic cheese choice, but cottage cheese is probably less expensive so I continue to use it. My kids never liked the texture of cottage cheese, so I have always pureed it in the food processor so it wasn't easily identified.