Lasagna!

One of our favourite 'go-to' meals is lasagna.  It is so easy to put together, and is the perfect comfort food on a cold night.  Served with a side salad and some garlic bread, it is a fantastic meal!

I have a basic idea that I follow when I make lasagna, but usually the vegetables and cheese varies depending on what I find in my fridge that day.

This time when I made it, the meat layer consisted of ground beef, onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Delicious!

The cheese layer was made up of cottage cheese, frozen spinach, garlic powder, and some dried spices. If you have it, fresh spinach is even better!

After it is layered all up we topped it with marble cheese, and baked it all together. Yum!


Lasagna

• 650 g (about 1 1/2 lbs) lean ground beef
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 6 white mushrooms, sliced
• 1 - 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 398 mL can tomato sauce (I like to use the kind that have spices in them)
• 198 mL can tomato paste
• 750 g cottage cheese
• 1/2 - 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tbsp dried basil
• 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
• 300 g package of frozen spinach
• 1 egg
• 1 box 'no-boil' lasagna noodles
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups shredded marble cheese

1. In a large frying pan, add the olive oil, diced onions, and diced garlic.  Saute the onion and garlic for a couple minutes, and then add the ground beef, breaking up the ground beef as it cooks
2. When the beef is cooked, Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes
3. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and some salt and pepper. Let the meat sauce simmer for about 15 minutes
4. As the meat sauce simmers, defrost the frozen spinach
5. Mix together the cottage cheese, spices, spinach, and egg in a mixing bowl
6. When ready to assemble, cover the bottom of a 9" x 13" with the lasagna noodles
7. Spread half of the meat sauce onto the noodles
8. Cover the meat sauce with half of the cottage cheese/spinach mix
9. Add another layer of noodles, and repeat with the remaining meat sauce and cottage cheese/spinach
10. Sprinkle on the shredded cheese, and then cover everything up with tin foil
11. Bake at 375 F for 35 - 45 minutes, and then remove the foil and bake for an additional 5 - 10 minutes (or until the edges of the cheese begin to brown)
12. Enjoy!