Meaty Lasagna

The answer to your question is yes.

I do weigh 6,000 pounds due to all of the hearty comfort food that I have been consuming.

I promise that after the new year, I will try to post something healthy.

There is no point in even pretending like I am going to eat healthy before then.

Please note: for this recipe I used uncooked lasagna noodles. If you are going to cook your noodles first, do not use cottage cheese. Use ricotta cheese because it is less runny (though quite a bit higher in calories...not that we are counting).

Having homemade (or store-bought - I won't tell) marinara sauce on hand makes this recipe a cinch to throw together.

Yum.

It doesn't get much more comforting than lasagna.

Meaty Lasagna (serves 8**)

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 lb Italian sausage (spicy or mild, whatever your preference)
• 8 cups marinara sauce
• 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 24 oz cottage cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1 lb grate mozzarella cheese
• 1 lb uncooked lasagna noodles (you probably won't use the whole box...save the rest for next time!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brown beef and sausage in a large saucepan over medium heat. Throw the onions and garlic in the with the beef for the last few minutes of cooking. Drain grease.

Add marinara sauce to saucepan and stir to combine. Heat through.

Combine cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese and egg in a large bowl.

In a large lasagna pan, put enough meat sauce on the bottom of the pan to cover it (about 2 cups). Place uncooked noodles in a single layer on top of sauce. On top of noodles, spread 1/2 of the cottage cheese mixture and 2 cups of mozzarella cheese. Place about 2 cups of meat sauce on top of mozzarella cheese, then another layer of noodles. Put remaining cottage cheese mixture on top of noodles, followed by remaining meat sauce and then top with remaining mozzarella cheese (and additional Parmesan cheese if desired)*.

Cover with aluminum foil, place on top of a baking sheet (to catch drips) and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove aluminum foil and continue to cook until cheese is bubbly and brown.

Remove from oven and let sit for 10 - 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

*If you have a deeper lasagna pan (or if you don't use any meat), you could probably do a third layer. Mine was almost overflowing so I could only do 2 layers.
**This recipe is easy to cut in half if you want to use an 8" x 8" baking dish instead of a 9" x 13". Cut all ingredients in half except for the egg - you can still use a whole egg (plus, how do you cut an egg in half? Don't answer that.).

Printable Recipe