Talia's Lasagna
Sauce
- Medium sized white onion, finely diced
- 1 pound hamburger meat
- 1 pound sausage meat (sweet Italian sausages are good)
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
- couple tbsp tomato paste
- 1 bunch carrots, chopped into 1/4-inch rounds
- 4 tsp dried basil
- 1/4 tsp cayenne, or to taste
- several grinds of pepper
- 1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- dash of balsamic vinegar
Rest of the lasagna
- 500 g cottage cheese
- 10 lasagna noodles
- grated mozzarella for topping
Put a pot of water on to boil and cook lasagna noodles for 8-10 minutes, or according to package instructions. Aim for a firm noodle, as the noodles will absord liquid in the lasagna.
Put some olive oil in a frying pan and heat to medium-high. Add the onions and cook until softened and beginning to brown around edges, about 5-10 minutes. Add the carrots and cook until beginning to soften, another 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Meanwhile, remove the sausages from their casings and mash the meat up, and then add the hamburger meat and mash until thoroughly mixed.
Add the meat to the fry pan and cook until no pink is to be seen. If desired, pour off some of the excess fat.
Add tomatoes and tomato paste to sauce along with all the seasonings. Bring to a boil, then simmer until everything comes together into a delicious sauce, 10-15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. If sauce is unduly runny (especially if you did not pour off the meat fat), then add a little flour until thickened.
Layer the lasagna in a casserole dish like so:
- 1/3 meat sauce
- 1/2 the cottage cheese
- 5 lasagna noodles
- scant 1/3 meat sauce
- 1/2 the cottage cheese
- 5 lasagna noodles
- heaping 1/3 meat sauce
- mozzarella topping
Place the dish on a cookie sheet so drippings do not splash on your oven floor. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. At the end, turn on the broiler and broil for 4 minutes, or until cheese is crispy and well-browned.
Beschemelle layer option, notes from version April 2021:
Attempted a combination of this and Serious Eat Lasagna. The cottage cheese layer with eggs and herbs was indistinguisable from original plain cottage cheese. Beschemelle layer was amazing! Added this layer in 2 parts above the noodles layer.
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced, or grated on a microplane grater
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 pound dry whole milk mozzarella cheese, grated (or whatever cheese, I used 1/2 c of parmesan)
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat butter in medium saucepan over medium-high heat until foaming subsides, stirring occasionally, about 1 minute. Add flour and stir with whisk until light blond in color and slightly nutty aroma develops, about 1 minute. Add garlic, and stir to combine. Whisking constantly, add milk in steady stream until fully incorporated. Bring to a simmer (mixture should thicken). Remove heat, add cheese and nutmeg, and whisk until fully melted. Whisking constantly, return to a simmer, remove from heat, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside until ready to use.
See also Mom’s Lasagna and Pioneer Woman Lasagna.
Comments
I’m still refining the cottage cheese spicing. Not sure if parsley flakes are the way to go. Maybe chives…
And 3 c. cottage cheese is not too much though it boils over the casserole dish.
Note: I have substantially modified this recipe to reflect how I actually make lasagna these days.
Three comments: 1. I only use half a can of tomato paste. 2. I use hot italian sausages and maybe less cayenne. 3. Ricotta cheese works well instead of cottage cheese.
In general, this is a very good recipe.
Also, you can use pre-cooked noodles if you add some liquid to the sauce.