Poor Man's Lasagna

"This is how I always fix my lasagna- I don't like messing with the real noodles :-) It's really healthier than you'd expect such a fulfilling meal to be. You can use ground turkey instead of beef. I have also made it with squash and mushrooms instead of meat- which was a nice change. It goes great with a big chunk of freshly toasted garlic bread... Edit: After some of the reviews I thought I'd mention that the pasta sauce I use isn't plain tomato sauce, but a flavored sauce that you'd eat over spaghetti (like chunky garlic mushroom flavor.)"
 
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photo by *Parsley* photo by *Parsley*
photo by *Parsley*
photo by *Parsley* photo by *Parsley*
photo by Random Rachel photo by Random Rachel
Ready In:
45mins
Ingredients:
6
Serves:
8
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ingredients

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directions

  • Brown meat in a skillet. Drain fat from meat (I usually rinse it under warm water.).
  • Meanwhile, boil noodles according to package directions (its OK if they're a little underdone.).
  • Meanwhile mix the egg and cottage cheese in a bowl, and set aside.
  • Spray a 9x13 pyrex. Coat the bottom with a very thin layer of pasta sauce. Layer about half of the noodles on top of the sauce. Layer the meat on top of that, followed by another thin layer of sauce. Layer the cottage cheese mixture on top of that, followed by the remaining noodles. Add the remaining sauce on top of the noodles (I prefer it thin on top, so that the noodles get crispy-chewy.) Sprinkle all of the cheese on top of the lasagna.
  • Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes depending on how crunchy you like your noodles.
  • I have found that half of a container of cottage cheese is perfect, so I usually go ahead and mix the remaining half with an egg, and freeze it. It defrosts quite easily in the fridge next time.
  • I also usually buy the meat on sale in bulk, and freeze it in pre-cooked portions. If you do that, you can easily put this meal together quickly. It's also easy to make 2 lasagnas at once, and freeze one for later. You can reheat it in the microwave, or in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes, covered.

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Reviews

  1. Nice-but it was little bland..I added some Parmesan and served it with extra sauce--I also added some salt and pepper( definately needed it)<br/>made for zw7
     
  2. Nice pasta casserole. However, as it is written, I think it would be rather bland and dry. I added chopped onion and garlic to the ground beef. I also added salt and basil to the sauce (I increased the sauce to 28 oz). I also went with 2 cups of fat free cottage cheese. I used mozzarella and parmesan on top. I used mafalda pasta (the "baby" lasagna noodles...... went very well in this dish. We enjoyed this a lot and I will make this again, with my mentioned additions. Thanx!
     
  3. I hated this. I am sorry. I really wanted to like it. It was dry. And I added more sauce. The ground beef should be added to the sauce, maybe. There were too many noodles. It was very easy to make, but it was just not my cup of tea. The only one who liked it was my husband, and he'll eat anything! I had to throw it out.
     
  4. Wow! Judging by the ingredients, I thought this recipe would be "okay," but boy, was I in for a surprise! No more fussing around with the conventional methods of making lasagna! This was so easy (which I'm all for) and soooo tasty!!! It freezes well, which is another plus! Thanks so much for sharing this "keeper", Japan Bound! Rosie28
     
  5. This was super easy and super fast! We will be making this again. Great for busy moms!
     
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