Lasagna

Bruce has always loved lasagna. We have several recipes, but none of them seemed to come close to what he wanted. What did he do? Merged a number of the ones he found, added his own touch, and came up with this great recipe. Be prepared to fall in love. (Oh, and if there are any leftovers, they taste almost better reheated than the first time around.)

Ingredients

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1/2 sweet white onion (finely chopped)
• 2 pounds mild Italian sausage
• 2 - 15 oz cans tomato sauce
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbs of dried minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 2 cups Italian style or mozzarella cheese, grated
• No-boiling required lasagna noodles
• 1.5 ounce grated parmesan cheese
• Spray cooking oil

Preparation

1. Pour Olive oil in pan.
2. Add onion and lightly brown.
3. Add sausage to pan and brown.
4. When browned, add tomato sauce, garlic, sugar and salt. Heat until simmering.

5. In separate bowl:

   • Combine cottage cheese and cream cheese.
   • Add Italian style or mozzarella cheese to bowl and mix in.
   • Just before adding first cheese layer, add parmesan cheese and mix in.

6. In large liner pan:

   • Spray pan bottom and sides with Pam or equivalent.
   • Cover bottom with one layer noodles.
   • Using a large spoon, cover noodles with 1/3 of meat sauce mixture.
   • Using a large spoon, cover meat sauce with 1/2 of cheese mixture.
     (This step works best if you drop the cheese on the meat sauce by spoonfuls. Don't try to spread it around - it will do that by itself as it melts.)
   • Cover cheese mixture with a second layer of noodles.
   • Cover noodles with a second layer of meat sauce (1/3 of original amount or half of what is left).
   • Cover meat sauce with the rest of the cheese mixture.
   • Cover cheese mixture with noodles.
   • Cover noodles with remaining meat sauce.
   • Cover meat sauce with grated cheese.
7. Place liner pan in Dutch Oven and bake in 350 Dutch oven for 30 minutes to an hour or until cooked through. (While this recipe looks complicated, it really isn't. It takes more time to type than to explain.)