Recipe Box Wednesday

Pan o' Baked, Bubbly Pasta Goodness (commonly know as Lasagna)

At one of my bridal showers, 17+ years ago, I received a bunch of tried and true recipes from the ladies. This lasagna recipe is from the shower and is one of my favorites - it's so good and you make it with raw/uncooked noodles which makes it super easy. And it freezes well. Bonus! The ingredient's list is mixed in with the directions so I bolded them for easy reference.

Lasagna

1) 1# ground meat (I use beef but have done turkey & venison, both good) Brown, drain, return to largish frying pan

2) In pan with browned meat add:
14.5 oz. can whole, peeled tomatoes cut up w/juice (or pureed)
6 oz. can tomato paste
1 C. water 1 Tbsp. sugar 2 Tbsp. parsley flakes 1 tsp. basil
and mix together.

3) In a large bowl, mix:
24 oz. cottage cheese (your choice large or small curd)
4 oz. Parmesan cheese 1 Tbsp. parsley flakes 1 tsp. oregano

4) Grease 9x13" pan and layer:
* 1/2 of the meat/tomato mixture
* 1/2 box raw lasagna noodles (small box)
* all the cottage cheese mixture
* 1/2 box raw lasagna noodles
* remaining meat/tomato mixture
* 8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded

5) Bake at 350 for 1 hour, covered. Test noodle 'doneness' w/sharp knife. If soft, remove cover and bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand a few minutes before cutting. Remember to use UNCOOKED noodles. After this is baked and cooled it can be frozen for another meal.

Yum!!!

I often double this recipe and make two pans at once, one in a regular cake pan, one in a foil one to go right in the freezer once it's baked. One of my recent goals as a parent is to teach our 13 year old how to cook things he likes and introduce him to things he might like if he wasn't afraid of what may be mixed in them. I hope to send him off, someday, with a sort of homemade cookbook of family favorites, scrapbook pages with recipes and pictures of him making different things and then submitted to one of the places that makes books... great wedding gift, eh?

What does the recipe say???
Spreading the cottage cheese mixture (which he won't eat alone, but LOVED in the lasagna! Score 1 for 'the plan'!) I didn't get any photos of the final product - next time for sure!
Cookbooks are always better with a photo of what you are making.

Let me know how you like it!