Better-than-Ever Cheesy Meat Lasagna

What you need:

    • 3/4 lb. extra-lean ground beef
    • 3 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
    • 1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
    • 1 large tomato, chopped
    • 1 egg
    • 1 container (16 oz.) cottage cheese
    • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
    • 9 lasagna noodles, cooked (or however many you may need)
    • 1 pkg. (7 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

**I used Barilla lasagna and it was the type you don't precook. So I combined the recipe on the Barilla box with this one and modified it to meet my needs. Make sure you check your lasagna noodles and modify as needed.

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 375. Brown meat with garlic and oregano in a large saucepan.
  2. Stir in spaghetti sauce; simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in tomatoes.
  3. Mix egg, cottage cheese and Parmesan.
  4. Spread 1/2 cup meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish (I did 1/4 cup spaghetti sauce before I added it to the meat).
  5. Top with 3 noodles (or 1/3 of the amount you have). Then half the cottage cheese mixture on top of noodles. Top with 1/2 cup mozzarella.
  6. Then top with 1 cup sauce. Repeat layers (noodles, cottage cheese, mozzarella and meat sauce). Top with remaining noodles and sauce; cover. Bake for 30 minutes or until heated through (my noodles said 50 to 60 minutes). Top with remaining mozzarella. Bake uncovered for 5 more minutes or until melted.
  7. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Cut into squares and serve!

Recipe courtesy Kraft