Pioneer Woman's Lasagna

I don't know how many of you have the Pioneer Woman Cooks new cookbook, but I can tell you that it is as fantastic as her website is. I've been visiting her blog for close to 2 years now and her recipes have never let me down. I am thrilled to have her book and I just wish she would come to Virginia to do a book signing. Yes, I would wait in line to meet her and I wouldn't wait in line for just anyone....believe me! This lasagna is excellent! I had been been making a different one for several years that I found at allrecipes that is very good but uses so many ingredients. You know those recipes that have about 30 ingredients in them....some ingredients you will never use again? Well, this one is just as good, if not better, with way less ingredients. It even uses cottage cheese instead of ricotta (I am Italian myself and at first had a "hard" time with this), but it doesn't take anything away from how good this is. Please do yourself a favor and make this! It's kid friendly too, at least in this house!

Hey, I wanted to tell you that I am now wireless....a big deal for me. I have a laptop and don't like to venture too much into using it in different ways so I always just used the broadband. I finally decided to try to set up a wireless connection...OMG....You are dealing with a person that has no patience and doesn't understand hardly any computer lingo. Well, it just so happens that my son (yes, my 10 year old son) has a 12 year old friend who is just a whiz at this type of thing. I'll let you guess the rest......but I am wireless!!! Yipee!!!!

Pioneer Woman's Lasgana

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt

10 ounces lasagna noodles

1 pound mozzarella cheese

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 pound hot breakfast sausage (I used Bob Evan's regular breakfast sausage and removed the casings)

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 14.5 ounce cans whole tomatoes

2 6 ounce cans tomato paste

freshly ground black pepper

10 to 12 basil leaves

1/4 cup finely chopped flat parsley

3 cups low fat cottage cheese

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the olive oil and a dash of salt. Cook the lasagna

noodles according to the package directions until al dente. Drain the noodles and lay them flat on a piece of aluminum foil.

Grate the mozzarella cheese and set aside. In a large skillet over medium high heat , saute the hamburger, sausage and garlic until brown. Drain off excess fat. Add the tomatoes with their juice, tomato paste, 1/2 teaspoon salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir together well. Simmer over low heat uncovered, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cut basil into chiffonade by stacking leaves on top of one another and rolling them tightly, then cutting across. Finely chop the parsley. Add half the herbs to the meat mixture and stir together.

In a medium bowl combine the cottage cheese, eggs, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and the other half of the herbs. Stir together well.

To Assemble: Begin by laying 4 lasagna noodles in the bottom of a deep rectangular baking pan. The noodles should overlap. (I used no bake noodles and followed the instructions on the box regarding assembling the lasagna...this will differ from what is written in Pioneer Woman's directions for assembly so make sure to follow instructions on the box as written for no bake noodles).

Spoon cottage cheese mixture onto the noodles. Spread to distribute evenly. Sprinkle half the mozzarella on top of the cottage cheese mixture. Spoon just enough of the meat mixture on top of the mozzarella. Spread evenly, being careful not to distrupt the layers below. Now repeat the process, beginnning with a layer of the lasagna noodles followed by the cottage cheese mixture followed by the mozzarella mixture and ending with a thick layer of the meat mixture. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese over the top and bake for 35 to 45 minutes until lasagna is hot and bubbly. Allow to stand for 10 minutes before cutting into squares.