Easiest Lasagna

Total Time: 3 hrs Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 5 cups canned spaghetti sauce
• 1 lb lasagna noodle, uncooked
• 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef, uncooked
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 12 ounces cream-style cottage cheese
• 12 slices american cheese (enough to cover whole top of casserole)
• 4 cups grated part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (or 1 teaspoon dried basil)

Recipe

• 1 pour 1 1/2 cups sauce into a greased lasagne pan (extra deep 9 x 13 or larger).
• 2 add a layer of uncooked noodles (half of the noodles), overlapping them as necessary.
• 3 add 1/2 of uncooked meat, leaving it in small chunks.
• 4 sprinkle with onion.
• 5 mix about 1/2 cup of the hot water with the cottage cheese and spread over previous layers.
• 6 cover with 1 1/2 cups sauce.
• 7 add last layer of noodles.
• 8 top with slices of american cheese.
• 9 add rest of the meat, in chunks.
• 10 cover with the last 2 cups of sauce, and press down with a spatula to remove air pockets.
• 11 pour the rest of the hot water around the edges of the pan.
• 12 cover with foil and bake 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 350 degrees (check for dryness and add more water if necessary after an hour), until a knife inserted in the center easily pierces noodles.
• 13 remove foil and sprinkle with the mozzarella, parmesan and basil. bake uncovered another 20 minutes, and then let stand a few minutes before cutting and serving.
• 14 i have used fat free cheeses with good results.