I want to tell you about another lasagna. On Monday I shared with you this amazing dairy-free lasagna, but today I want to share with you a more standard meat and cheese lasagna. Only…I don’t have a picture again. One of the best things about lasagnas is seeing the photos of their luscious, oozy layers of lusciousness, and I don’t have one for you. So I will apologize in advance for not sharing a picture with you of this rather fantastic version of lasagna. And I will also warn you that at first the ingredients may seem a little strange- but trust me on this one, it is really, really good.
The name of this lasagna is Lazy Lasagna and it is a recipe from one of my treasured church cookbooks. When I decided to make lasagna, I knew that turning to those wise church ladies of the past was going to give me delicious results. And while I probably have dozens of recipes for a standard lasagna in my possession, this was the one which called to me because it was slightly different, and it also seemed very easy to put together.
What was unusual first of all was the layer of cheese. In lasagnas of the past, I’ve used different blends of ricotta, Parmesan, and mozzarella to give me the cheesy layers that make lasagna so wonderful. This lasagna used something completely different- it used cottage cheese, (which I could understand using) and sour cream, (which really baffled me). Cottage cheese and sour cream? Wouldn’t that almost make a cheese soup?
And then there was the issue of the noodles and the water. I was directed to use regular lasagna noodles- not the no-boil kind, only I wasn’t supposed to cook them first. This is what sold me on this recipe, because cooking lasagna noodles is no easy task. Instead, you pour some water into the lasagna pan just before popping in the oven and you let the oven do the work for you. Firm noodles would be so much easier for layering, I was sold, and forged ahead and made this lasagna.
It did come together rather quickly, and while I had my doubts as I was layering, it seemed to work fairly well. I took a taste of the cottage cheese/sour cream mixture and I was surprised at how delicious it was all by itself! It was extra creamy and had a nice tangy flavor from the sour cream. My sole change to this recipe when I make it again will be to add some garlic powder to the cottage cheese for some added oomph.
And I will warn you on one thing. When you take the lasagna out of the oven, it’s not going to look like it’s done. It’s going to look a little soupy, and you’re going to wonder if you should leave it in the oven longer. Don’t. Take it out and let it sit uncovered for a full 20 minutes, and it will no longer look soupy or uncooked. This lasagna was wonderful! It may not be authentic in the least, but everyone cleaned their plates. Abigail was in heaven, and actually jumped for joy when I told her we’d be having it again later in the week since there was so much leftover. Zander was hesitant to even try it, but that first bite he took sold him, and he eagerly attacked his own portion of lasagna. And I daresay, leftover portions seem to work very well individually frozen for a quick microwaveable lunch that is way better than any frozen entree you could buy at the store. Give it a try, I promise you will enjoy this easy Lazy Lasagna.
**Editing to add that I did get around to getting a picture, so all is not lost. By the way, this lasagna reheats beautifully.
Lazy Lasagna
1 pound ground beef
1 (32 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
1 (16 oz) carton cottage cheese
1 (8 oz) carton sour cream
12 uncooked lasagna noodles (not no-boil noodles)
18 ozs. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup water
Brown the beef in a skillet, drain the grease. Add the spaghetti sauce to the beef, and then set aside.
Combine cottage cheese and sour cream in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside.
Spoon 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan. Place half of the uncooked noodles over the sauce, and then spread half of the cottage cheese mixture on the noodles. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese on next, followed by half of the remaining meat mixture. Finally, sprinkle with 1/2 of the Parmesan cheese.
Repeat the layers starting with the noodles, and top with the last 1/3 of the Mozzarella cheese.
Very carefully then, pour the water into the pan around the edges of the lasagna. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake in a preheated 350ºF oven for 1 hour. Uncover; bake an additional 20 minutes, or until nice and bubbly. Let stand for 15-20 minutes before serving.