Easy Lasagne for a Crowd
Submitted by: Pat Irvin - Tallahassee, FL
Meat Sauce:
2 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/4 cup dried parsley flakes
3 medium onions
1/8 cup sugar
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
2 1-lb. cans tomatoes (including liquid), chopped
2 tsp purchased mixed Italian seasonings
2 15-oz. cans tomato sauce
Cheese Filling:
6 cups creamed cottage cheese
2 tsp purchased mixed Italian seasonings
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 16-oz. box lasagne noodles
2 TBSP dried parsley flakes
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 lb. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Meat sauce: Brown ground beef, onions, and garlic in Dutch oven or large electric skillet; drain off fat. Stir in chopped tomatoes (including liquid), tomato sauce, 1/4 cup parsley flakes, sugar, 1 tsp salt, and 2 tsp purchased mixed Italian seasonings. Heat until bubbling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered on low heat about 45 minutes (consistency should be like a soup -- add water if necessary).
Cheese filling: In a bowl, mix cottage cheese, 1 cup Parmesan cheese, 2 TBSP parsley flakes, 1 tsp salt, and 2 tsp purchased mixed Italian seasonings.
Assembly: Reserve 2 cups of meat sauce. Place a single layer
of uncooked noodles in the bottom of each of two
13"x9"x2" pans, then layer in each pan 1/4 of meat
sauce, 1/4 of shredded mozzeralla cheese, and 1/4 of cheese
filling. Add another layer of uncooked noodles, and repeat the
layering of
meat sauce, mozzarella cheese, and cheese filling. Top with
reserved meat sauce and sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
Bake 45 minutes. Soupy sauce will provide liquid to cook lasagne
noodles -- trust me. Together, both pans yield about 16 healthy
servings.
I happened on using uncooked noodles completely by accident. As a young bride, I must have mis-read the instructions in a recipe for making lasagne. Years later, a friend of mine said she always liked it when I made my lasagne because she hated making it -- separating those hot, steamy noodles, you know. I looked at her with a totally blank face and said, "What hot noodles?" It was then I learned that the lasagne noodles were supposed to have been cooked! By that time, I'd developed the above recipe, and it's such a hit I saw no reason to start cookin' noodles then. Today, of course, you can buy "no-cook lasagne noodles," but why spend the extra money on fancy noodles when you can just cook the sauce a little less and let the extra liquid cook the noodles while the dish is baking???
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