Cook's Country Lasagna

I have never liked lasagna.  Every recipe I've ever eaten has had sweet sauce combined with the meat.  Today, on Cook's Country they demonstrated this recipe.  The sauce has zero added sugar and a single spice, oregano. 

This neither a low calorie recipe or an inexpensive one to make!  Their recipe used Pecarino Romano cheese, which I can't find locally, so I substituted Kraft Italian 5 cheese blend.

The recipe takes about an hour to assemble and another hour to bake.  It makes a 13" x 9" pan full and would serve 10-12 people with a side salad and some good bread.

You'll want to put the 13" x 9" pan on a rimmed baking sheet since it may bubble over in the oven.

LASAGNA – COOK’S COUNTRY RECIPE

1 ½ lbs. 90% lean ground beef

2 slices white sandwich bread

¼ c. milk

Salt and pepper

1 T. olive oil

1 onion, diced

6 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tsp. ground oregano

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 c. cottage cheese

8 oz. Kraft Italian 5 cheese blend, divided

1 c. heavy cream

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. cornstarch

8 oz. grated mozzarella cheese

16 lasagna noodles

Shred bread into small pieces.  Pour milk over shredded bread.  Combine into a panade. Add panade, salt and pepper with meat and thoroughly combine.  Set aside.

Combine olive oil and onion in a dutch oven.  Cook and stir onion until tender.

Add the finely minced garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook about 1 minute to bloom spices.

Add meat mixture and cook just until meat is no longer pink.

Stir in the crushed tomatoes, simmer 5 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine cottage cheese, 4 oz. of the Italian cheese blend, heavy cream, minced garlic and 1 tsp. cornstarch.

Cook 15 lasagna noodles in 4 quarts of boiling, salted water until just al dente. Drain noodles and place on a baking sheet that’s coated in vegetable oil, separating noodles. Allow to cool.

In a greased 13 x 9 pan, place a layer of cooked noodles, top with 1/3 of the meat mixture.

Spoon ¼ of the cottage cheese mixture over the meat.  Sprinkle 1 cup of grated mozzarella cheese over cottage cheese mixture.

Repeat layers ending with noodles.  You should have 4 layers of noodles.  Top with remaining cottage cheese mixture. Sprinkle the remaining Italian cheese blend on top of cottage cheese layer.

Bake, covered with foil that you have sprayed with Pam, in a 375° oven for 30 minutes on a rimmed baking sheet. Remove foil and bake an additional 30 minutes.

Let stand 30 minutes before serving.