Mom's Lasagna
My mother was never an extraordinary cook, but the one thing she made that always tasted amazing was this lasagna. I have never found another lasagna that is as good as hers.
My mother was never an extraordinary cook, but the one thing she made that always tasted amazing was this lasagna. I have never found another lasagna that is as good as hers.
- Carbohydrate 18.5365310382565 g
- Cholesterol 138.193687493393 mg
- Fat 24.3633697670833 g
- Fiber 0.296333341797193 g
- Protein 26.3780991391732 g
- Saturated Fat 9.94327775045556 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (193g)
- Sodium 360.735483150526 mg
- Sugar 18.2401976964593 g
- Trans Fat 5.41541240797903 g
- Calories 404 calories
Step-by-step
- You can use no-cook noodles for this. If you choose not to, cook the noodles first.
- Brown the ground beef, and saute the onion. Mix in the garlic and spaghetti sauce and tomatoes. Set aside
- Mix the eggs and Parmesan and cottage cheeses together. Set aside.
- In a 9x11 cake or lasagna pan, put a layer of meat, then noodles (usually 4 across), then cheese mixture, then mozzarella. Repeat this for 2-3 layers.
- Bake at 350(F) for 45 minutes.
- All of these measurements are approximate. You can vary it any way you'd like. You can add as much cheese as you would like.
Bubble edges of melted mozzarella contrast against charred red sauce spots when baked at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes in a standard 9x11 cake pan. Equipment limitations demand precise thermal management when layering heavy components like ground beef and cottage cheese. Without proper pan sizing, the center fails to set before the edges dry out.
Thermal Management in Standard Pans
A 9x11 pan concentrates depth in a way shallow baking sheets do not. Dense proteins like beef require consistent conductive heat transfer through the glass or metal walls. Packing four noodles across the base creates a rigid structural grid that supports the weight of the dairy layer above. Cover the assembly loosely with foil during the first thirty minutes to prevent scorching the exposed cheese surface.The Role of No-Cook Noodles
Dry pasta absorbs moisture directly from the surrounding tomato and meat mixture during baking. Raw sheets need sufficient liquid to hydrate fully, or the final texture remains chalky and brittle. If substituting traditional boiled noodles, reduce the overall moisture in the meat sauce by simmering it for ten minutes prior to assembly to prevent a watery final slice. Cottage cheese releases additional liquid as it heats, which assists the softening process of dry pasta sheets without requiring preliminary boiling steps on the stovetop.Cheese and Fat Adjustments
Standard recipes utilize whole milk dairy for structural binding. Swapping cottage cheese for ricotta alters the moisture retention significantly because ricotta contains less free water. Adjust the accompanying egg ratio downward if using drier cheeses to avoid a rubbery curd texture in the binder. Grated parmesan adds necessary sodium and umami depth, while low-moisture mozzarella browns reliably under direct oven heat.
