3.5 stars (out of 5, with potential for 4.5 stars out of 5)*
{*Note. I was befallen with yet another cooking disaster... this one out of my hands! SB gave the final product 3.5 stars because we ended up with only the veggie version. He said that he would probably have given the meat one 4.5 stars. You may be asking: "What happened to the meat one?"... see below!}
This was a meal I had been planning to make for a long time. We had frozen ground beef in the freezer, and some extra in the fridge from burgers we had made last week, and I thought: a lasagna would be perfect to 1) use these ingredients, and 2) have leftovers for the weekend so that we don't have to cook each night. Well, it was a good idea; unfortunately, it did not turn out to last as long as I had anticipated. BTW, this is yet another recipe from PW from her blog: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_lasagn/
Ingredients:**
{**Note. These are the ingredients for a full-sized lasagna, as directed from PW. However, my pictures depict smaller versions (approx. half), as I only have a small convection oven that fits a 9" square pan.}
Meat sauce:
1.5 lbs. ground beef***
1 lb hot breakfast sausage (ground)***
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans whole tomatoes
2 cans tomato paste***
2 tbsp dried parsley
2 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp salt
Filling:
3 cups cottage cheese (low fat)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the stuff from the bottle)
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt
Other layers:
1 lb sliced mozzarella cheese (real mozzarella, but pre-sliced!)
1 package lasagna noodles
{***Note. For my veggie version, I added 1 package ground round. For a full veggie lasagna, I would suggest adding two packages, which should be plenty. For the sausage, mine was not really ideal as it had an outer skin. However, I was able to break it up quite well. I am not sure where to get ground up sausage without the skin. Finally, if you are going to buy tomato paste, may I recommend another brand besides Hunt's? See below...}
1. First, I cooked the ground beef and sausage, with the garlic, over medium-high heat. I ended up switching to my wok, as I was afraid that the meat would overflow! As you can see, the sausage is a bit chunky here, so I broke it up as I cooked. As a vegetarian, this was probably one of the grossest things to cook :(
{**Note. These are the ingredients for a full-sized lasagna, as directed from PW. However, my pictures depict smaller versions (approx. half), as I only have a small convection oven that fits a 9" square pan.}
Meat sauce:
1.5 lbs. ground beef***
1 lb hot breakfast sausage (ground)***
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans whole tomatoes
2 cans tomato paste***
2 tbsp dried parsley
2 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp salt
Filling:
3 cups cottage cheese (low fat)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the stuff from the bottle)
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt
Other layers:
1 lb sliced mozzarella cheese (real mozzarella, but pre-sliced!)
1 package lasagna noodles
{***Note. For my veggie version, I added 1 package ground round. For a full veggie lasagna, I would suggest adding two packages, which should be plenty. For the sausage, mine was not really ideal as it had an outer skin. However, I was able to break it up quite well. I am not sure where to get ground up sausage without the skin. Finally, if you are going to buy tomato paste, may I recommend another brand besides Hunt's? See below...}
1. First, I cooked the ground beef and sausage, with the garlic, over medium-high heat. I ended up switching to my wok, as I was afraid that the meat would overflow! As you can see, the sausage is a bit chunky here, so I broke it up as I cooked. As a vegetarian, this was probably one of the grossest things to cook :(
2. Once it was cooked and browned, you can see how much better the sausage mixed in. So, if you are unable to find the proper sausage, I think any hot Italian sausage will ultimately work.
3. PW recommends draining 1/2 the fat. Our meat was extra lean, but I still thought this was a good idea. I left about 1/3 of it in there.
4. Leaving it over the heat, I then added the whole tomatoes, tomato paste and the herbs...
5. ... unfortunately for me, and this recipe, I found this little gem in my can of Hunt's tomato paste. I say unfortunately because I had already added most of the can to my meat. Eggshell, anyone? Ewwwww...
This is what it looked like before I chucked it out :(
6. Having had to discard my meat dish (I'm sorry, but I couldn't let SB eat that - I have no idea how that shell got in there, where it had been, or how much I had missed. Not worth the risk!), I turned now to my vegetarian version. I was very lucky to have been cooking this at the same time, therefore having a back-up to the "Eggshell Debacle", but it is missing the sausage component/flavour. Oh well. You then simmer this meat sauce for 45 minutes, uncovered. I wasn't sure if the liquid would reduce from the tomatoes, so one suggestion I have is to not add the entire can of liquid with the tomato. This is what it looked like, all ingredients in the meat sauce.
7. As this simmered, I cooked the lasagna, rinsed in cold water, and set them out on a flat. surface You want it al dente.
8. I then made the filling by adding the cottage cheese to a bowl...
9. ...beating the two eggs, and stirring them in with the cottage cheese.
10. Finally, I added the Parmesan cheese...
11. ... along with the parley flakes and salt.
12. I stirred the mixture well, and set it aside until the meat was finished simmering.
13. Once everything was ready, we were on to the layering part. First, SB made me butter the bottom, to prevent sticking. Then we layered, starting with a layer of noodles (overlapping a bit)...
14. ... followed by about 1/2 of the cottage cheese filling, evenly spread...
15. ... and half of the mozzarella cheese (note: we didn't have enough to cover the entire layer, and it was still very cheesy!).
16. We then topped the cheese with just less than half of the meat sauce, spread evenly...
17. ... and repeated the process, starting with the noodles and the rest of the cottage cheese mixture...
18. ... followed by the remainder of the cheese, and topped by the meat sauce.
19. Finally, we topped it off with a generous layer of Parmesan cheese (note, this is the shredded stuff that comes in a bottle).
20. We then cooked it at 350F for 30 minutes until bubbling (although this took a bit longer in our oven!!), and let it sit for a few minutes before serving.
Overall, this was a delicious lasagna, and we ate it all by the afternoon the next day. It was very disappointing to have to throw out the meat one, but I will definitely try it again (perhaps with another tomato paste brand!). We both really enjoyed all of the flavours, and the ingredients were things that I had in my household regularly, so it wasn't a stretch. One final thing that I liked, was that it was a no stress recipe. You just kinda cook everything at your own pace.
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