1 lb. ground beef
¾ cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cans (15 oz) tomato sauce (the recipe actually calls for 1 lb. of tomatoes and 15 oz. of tomato sauce—so–whatever–this is just the way I do it.)
2 T parsley flakes
2 T sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. basil leaves
1 carton (24 oz) cottage cheese (I use lowfat)
1 T parsley flakes
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. oregano leaves
1 package (8 oz) lasagne noodles, cooked and well drained (I use nine noodles, 3 for each layer)
¾ lb. mozzarella cheese, shredded
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Cook and stir ground beef, onion and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain fat.
Add tomato sauce, 2 T parsley flakes, sugar, 1 tsp. salt, and basil to meat. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered 1 hour or until mixture is the consistency of spaghetti sauce. (You could also use something like Ragu spaghetti sauce to save time, but it probably won’t be as good. You also could do that if you want to make it meatless.)
Heat oven to 350°. Mix cottage cheese, ½ cup Parmesan cheese, 1 T parsley flakes, 1 ½ tsp. salt and the oregano. Reserve 1/3 cup meat sauce for thin top layer,
In ungreased baking pan, 13x9x2, layer ¼ each of the noodles, remaining meat sauce, the mozzarella cheese and cottage cheese mixture; repeat 3 times. Spread reserved meat sauce over top; sprinkle with ½ cup Parmesan cheese. (If desired, lasagne can be covered and refrigerated several hours at this point.)
Bake uncovered 45 minutes. (Allow an additional 10 to 15 minutes if lasagne has been refrigerated.) For easier cutting, let stand 15 minutes after removing from oven.
12 servings (3-inch square per serving.)