Lasagna Casserole

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion (more or less if you like onion)
1 12oz. can tomato paste
1 15oz. can tomato sauce
3 1/2 c. water
1 box mini lasagna noodles (12oz.)
shredded mozzarella cheese
cottage cheese
salt, pepper, season salt, lemon pepper, garlic salt, etc. to taste

Hardware:
9 x 13 in. baking dish
dutch oven or other deep saucepan/pot
measuring cup(s)
wooden spoon
aluminum foil

Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. Saute the onions ’til they just start to get soft. Add the ground beef, season to your liking, and cook ’til done. Drain off the grease.
3. Add the tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
4. Let sauce cool for 5 minutes. Add the mini lasagna noodles (in raw form). Mix well.
5. Add half of the sauce-noodle mixture to bottom of 9 x 13 in. baking dish. Add layer of cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese (as much or as little as you like). Layer the remaining sauce-noodle mixture over the cheese and then add another layer of cheese.
6. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. Place in 350° oven and bake for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, take off the foil and return to the oven for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese has browned to your liking. Can also turn on the broiler after 5 minutes.
7. Remove from oven, cut into pieces, serve, and enjoy.

Let me tell you … that was one damn good lasagna. I also made some garlic cheese bread to go along with it. I bought a loaf of sliced tunisian bread at the store and used that. Nummy.

I liked this better than using the regular noodles. It wasn’t as watery … probably because I used the entire box of noodles. Of course I added TONS of cheese. I like my cheese …

Normally, I eat a couple pieces of lasagna. With this, I only ate one piece. Granted … it was a bigger piece, but it was so filling with all those mini lasagna noodles. I think I found myself a new favorite. Now if I just had a guy I could cook this for …

Mood: lazy