Four Cheese Beef Lasagna
A good lasagna is a great option when you are looking for a great dinner recipe that everyone is going to love. Lasagna is delicious, hearty, filling and can be a great weeknight or weekend meal, even a special occasion meal if you want it to be. This beef and cheese lasagna recipe is one that you will keep coming back to time and time again.
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. Ground beef
1 lb. Ground mild Italian sausage
1 C. Onion chopped
3 tsp. Minced garlic
1 Large can crushed tomatoes
¼ C. Chopped fresh basil
¼ C. Tomato paste
3 tsp. Oregano
2 Bay leaves
1 tsp. Sugar, optional for a sweeter sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
15 Lasagna oven ready noodles
15 oz. Container ricotta
15 oz. Container cottage cheese
1 C. Parmesan cheese
1 Package frozen chopped spinach dethawed and completely drained of extra liquid
2 Large eggs
5 C. Mozzarella cheese shredded
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cook the ground beef, onions and ground sausage in a large skillet over medium high heat until the meat is browned completely, and the onions have softened. Drain any excess fat.
Add the minced garlic, tomato paste, oregano, sugar if desired and salt and pepper to taste to the skillet, and stir to combine, sauteing for another 30 seconds.
Pour in the crushed tomatoes and add the chopped basil. Stir to combine, and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.
In a mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, eggs and spinach along with salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine well.
Place a thin layer of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 deep sided baking dish.
Top the meat layer with a layer of lasagna noodles, you can break them up to fit as needed.
Add half of the cheese mixture on top of the noodles, spreading it evenly.
Sprinkle 2 cups of mozzarella cheese on top.
Spread ⅓ of the remaining meat mixture over the cheese.
Repeat with a layer of noodles, then the other ½ of the cheese mixture, 2 more cups of cheese and ⅓ of the meat mixture.
Place one more layer of lasagna noodles on top and cover with the remaining sauce and last cup of mozzarella cheese.
Cover the baking dish loosely with aluminum foil so that it does not touch the cheese on the top. Bake covered for 40 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 30-40 minutes until lightly browned and bubbling.