Deep Dish Cheesy Lasagna

This is a great, easy lasagna recipe. My husband loves it! It does take some time to make since you have to let the sauce simmer for about an hour and a half, but well worth the wait. A friend of mine just had a baby so I made this and split it into two dishes making a meal for us and them! We had garlic bread ( bad, I know-but so good!) and salad. Sorry I forgot to take a picture. :( I am not sure where I got this recipe, so if it is yours-Thank you!


Deep Dish Cheesy Lasagna

Ingredients:
12 uncooked whole wheat lasagna noodles ( I used regular lasagna noodles)
2/3 cups chopped onion (omitted)
1 lb extra lean ground sirloin (I used lean ground beef)
3 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1.5 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried oregano
4/5 tbsp freshly chopped parsley, divided
2.5 tsp salt, divided
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan
1/2 cup water
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 6.5 oz tomato sauce
1-2 6.5 oz cans tomato paste
16 oz part skim or fat free ricotta cheese
3 cups part skim shredded mozzarella cheese (I used mozzarella cheese slices)
1 egg

In a large pot or Dutch oven, cook ground beef, and add in onions and garlic till browned, drain. Return to pot, and stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, paste(you can just add one can and add more later to thicken), and water. Season with sugar, basil, oregano, Italian seasoning, 2 tsp salt, pepper & parsley. Simmer covered for about 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally.

Bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook lasagna noodles about 8-10 minutes, or I will cook about a minute less than according to directions. Drain & rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine 1/2 salt, egg, ricotta & 1/2 tbsp of parsley.

In a greased 9 x 13 baking dish, spread 1.5 cups of sauce, and layer 4 noodles and spread half of the ricotta mixture, 1 - 1.5 cups of sauce, 1 cup mozzarella. Repeat this layer again, and the last layer will be noodles, sauce & mozzarella cheese.

Bake covered in preheated oven for 25 minutes, remove foil, and bake 20-25 more minutes. Let lasagna cool 10 minutes before serving.

8 Servings, 9pts