Crushed Simplified Baked Lasagna

Crushed Simplified Baked Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1 teaspoon dried minced garlic

Directions:
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 2-pound, 13-ounce jar pasta sauce
1⁄ teaspoon granulated sugar
2
1⁄ cup water
2
1 pound mozzarella cheese, grated
1 16-ounce container cottage cheese
Optional: freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 pound dried lasagna noodles
1. Add the hamburger, onion, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper to a Dutch oven;
brown the hamburger over medium heat, stirring it with the other ingredients in
the pan and breaking apart the hamburger as it cooks. When the hamburger is
cooked through, drain off any excess fat. Stir in the pasta sauce and sugar. Pour
the water in the emptied pasta sauce jar; cover and shake to rinse out the jar. Add
the water to the pan and stir into the hamburger-sauce mixture. Remove the pan
from the heat; stir in half of the grated mozzarella cheese and the cottage cheese.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F.
3. To assemble the lasagna, ladle in enough of the sauce to cover the bottom of a 9"
× 13" nonstick baking pan. Sprinkle grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese over the
top of the sauce, if desired. Add a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles, being
careful not to let the noodles overlap. Repeat layering noodles and sauce until all
of the noodles are in the pan and covered. Sprinkle the remaining grated
mozzarella cheese over the top, along with some additional Parmigiano-Reggiano
cheese, if desired.
4. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an
additional 15 minutes, or until the cheese on top is melted, bubbling, and lightly
browned. Remove from the oven and let set for 10 minutes before serving.
Sausage Lasagna
If you prefer to skip the “browning the hamburger” step, you can instead
substitute a pound of diced cooked smoked sausage. Use all of the other
ingredients; however, because you will not be heating the pasta sauce before
you assemble the lasagna, bake the lasagna covered for 1 hour and then
uncovered for 15 minutes.
BEEF WITH WHOLE-GRAIN SPAGHETTI
If you don’t have leftover roast beef on hand, you can cut up a pound of sirloin
steak and sauté it along with the onions in the olive oil before you add the rest of
the sauce ingredients.