Lasagna

I love lasagna, but my mom would rarely make it because she could never get it to come out right.  So a while back I decided to master the art of lasagna making.  I took a recipe for a classic version, I think I got it from Taste of Home.  I did not want to boil the noodles like it says to do.  I did not want to boil tomato juice and spices together for 2 hours or whatever.  So I tweaked it to my liking.  It took me four takes to get it right.  The first time it was like soup and hard noodles.  The second time it was too dry.  The third time was okay but a bit too juicy.  The fourth time was the charm.  During the time of my experiments we would have lasagna for dinner about once every two weeks.  Tryphena grew tired of it.  So I was more than delighted to hear her say yesterday that she would be up for lasagna again.  I made it that very night.  Then we had it tonight for dinner.  Yummers!

I present to you, my perfected version of classic lasagna.
Note: You probably don't have to use the exact cheeses that I list.  Yesterday I didn't have ricotta and provolone so I used Muenster and Colby instead.  It tasted great.

Five Cheese Lasagna

2 pounds ground meat
1 quart pizza sauce
3 eggs
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
3 cups (24 ounces) small-curd cottage cheese
1 carton (8 ounces) ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
 9 lasagna noodles, uncooked
 6 slices provolone cheese
 3 cups (12 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

In a skillet, cook the meat over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.
Add the pizza sauce.  Simmer 2 minutes.
In a bowl, combine the eggs, parsley, cottage cheese, ricotta, and Parmesan.
Spread 1 cup of meat sauce in an ungreased baking dish. *
Layer with 3 noodles, provolone cheese, 2 cups cottage cheese mixture, 1 cup mozzarella,
3 noodles, 2 cups meat sauce, remaining cottage cheese mixture, and 1 cup mozzarella.
Top with remaining noodles, meat sauce, and mozzarella.
Preferably assemble the day before you want to eat it. Place in refrigerator until ready to bake.
Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for 1 1/2 hours.
Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.

Yield: 12 servings
* The original recipe said to use a 13-inch x 2-inch baking dish.  I found that it is better to use a shorter dish with higher sides.  The dimensions aren't on the dish but they are more like 11 3/4-inch x 9-inch x 4-inch.

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