Cheater Lasagna
Everything you could want in lasagna and more. Plus, so fun and easy with cavatappi noodles!
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Servings: 8 -10 servings
Ingredients
- 1/2 large white onion diced
- 4 oz. Mushrooms diced (optional)
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- 1/2 pound mild pork sausage not breakfast sausage
- 2-3 cloves of fresh garlic minced
- 2, 14.5 oz cans of fire-roasted diced tomatoes I love the hunts brand
- 1/2 teaspoon each of dried thyme oregano, rosemary, and basil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2-3 cups of cottage cheese
- 1 egg
- 2-3 or maybe 4 🤷♀️ cups grated mozzarella
- 1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning or a combo of dried thyme oregano, basil and rosemary.
- 2/3 pound of dry cavatappi pasta or any pasta that you like
Instructions
DIRECTIONS:
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. When it is boiling, add pasta and cook until tender. Remove, strain, and toss with a teaspoon of oil or butter until the meat sauce and cheese sauce are ready.
- In a large frying pan, combine onion, mushrooms, beef and sausage. Cook together until onion and mushrooms have completely softened and until meat is cooked through. Add garlic and cook for another minute.
- Purée the canned tomatoes and add them to the meat. Add the 1/2 teaspoon each of thyme, rosemary, basil and oregano. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer.
- Purée the cottage cheese (optional), then add an egg, the Italian seasoning, and about a cup of the cheese. Mix to combine.
- In a 9x13 inch baking dish layer 1/3 of the meat sauce, then half of the noodles, all of the cottage cheese mixture, 1/3 of the meat sauce, the other half of the noodles, and the remaining meat sauce. Cover with remaining mozzarella.
- Cover and bake at 350° F for 30 minutes. I uncover and bake another 5-10 min until bubbly.
- ENJOY!
Notes
To make this a freezer meal, double wrap the pan in foil, then wrap it once in plastic. I keep it frozen and then thaw it the day before we want to eat it. I’d let it thaw in the fridge, then bake with the instructions below.