Easy Lasagna

I LOVE hearty, body warming, quick clean up meals to make in the dead of winter. I've never seen a lasagna recipe I loved, so I decided to create my own.

You need the following:

1 15 oz container part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup chopped parsley
4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella
1 egg, well beaten
1 24 oz jar of your favorite tomato-based sauce (I like ones that feature garlic--YUM)
1 pound lowest-fat ground beef
3 cloves minced garlic
1 package lasagna pasta (I used no boil lasagna, but the regular kind can work too!)
1 cup water
13 x 9 baking pan


Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit. 

Add beef and garlic into 6 qt pan and stir occasionally until beef is browned through. Drain the fat. Stir in the tomato sauce, then shake the water in the jar, and add it to the mixture. Stir until combined. In a separate bowl, mix together parsley, ricotta, egg, and about 1 cup of mozzarella. 

In your baking pan, put down about 1/2 cup of meat/sauce mixture just enough to barely cover the bottom.Layer the lasagna as follows:
Sauce
Pasta
Ricotta mix
Sprinkle of mozzarella

Continue layers until you run out of ingredients. MAKE SURE that your noodles are COMPLETELY touched in either ricotta or sauce so that they can cook evenly! Otherwise they make be crunchy. Sprinkle your remaining mozzarella on top, and bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes, or until the top cheese is melted and golden.

 

I like the crispy edges....

Looook at those layers--yum!