Saucy & Cheesy {and easy!} Lasagna

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Barilla, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #JoytotheTable  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.

When Adam and I were first married, I was really excited to make homemade meals for my husband and put the cooking skills {I pretended to have} to work. After a few months though, I was getting kind of bored with my range of recipes. So I decided to give myself the challenge to cook through the Robinson Family Cookbook that Adam's aunts had put together. I didn't get all the way through every recipe, but I did find some great gems that I have now added to my meal rotation. 

One of the recipes I decided to try was Adam's aunt's lasagna recipe. The idea of making homemade lasagna totally freaked me out. For some reason I had this {kind of irrational} idea that lasagna from scratch takes forever and is really hard and it's hard to ever get right. Well, it wasn't hard and it didn't take that long but I did feel like I didn't get it exactly perfect to my tastes. 

So after a lot of tweaking and adjustments to previous lasagna recipes I've "researched," I think after 4.5 years of marriage I finally have come up with a recipe that I love and feel proud about sharing with others. And with the help of Barilla Lasagna Noodles and Barilla Sauce from Safeway, it made it even better. 

[Which, if you really know me, I get super nervous cooking for other people and self-conscious. So if I think it's good enough to share now, that means I really do think it's awesome :)]

One of my biggest problems with lots of lasagna recipes I tried before was that I felt like it was too dry. So that is why I call this... 

Mrs. Robinson's Saucy & Cheesy Lasagna

Here's what you'll need: 

Ingredients: 

*I do have to say that when I actually cook, I rarely measure out things exactly, unless it's baking or something. So, a lot of these measurements you can probably give or take for your own tastes and preferences. 

- 1 lb. ground beef or sausage [I used Italian sausage cause it's Adam's favorite :)]

- 1-2 jars of your favorite red pasta sauce. I used Roasted Garlic Barilla Sauce. 

- 1 package of Barilla Lasagna Noodles, uncooked 

- 1 tsp. minced garlic [give or take for your own tastes]

- 3 cups Cottage Cheese 

- 2 Eggs, beaten 

- 1/2 tsp. pepper

- Choice of seasoning. I used about 1-2 tsp. of parsley and 1-2 tsp. of Italian seasoning

- 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese 

- 1 cup Mozarella Cheese

Directions: 

1. Brown the meat and saute briefly with minced garlic. Don't let the garlic cook too long (especially if you are using premade minced garlic since it cooks fast) because it won't taste good and become bitter. {lessons I learned the hard way} 

2. Add 1 1/2 jars of Barilla pasta sauce to meat. I like it really saucy because I feel like it cooks the noodles better that way. But you can adjust the amounts for yourself. 

Save the other half of the sauce for later. 

3. Once the sauce is done, it's time to move on to the cottage cheese mixture layer. I use cottage cheese instead of Ricotta like traditional recipes because it's cheaper and I can't taste a difference... simple. 

Combine the cottage cheese, beaten eggs, pepper, and seasonings in a bowl. Sometimes I add some mozzarella and/or parmesan to the cottage cheese mixture if I'm feeling cheesy that day. 

Let a little helper stir if needed. :) 

4. Now for layering. Pour the other half of the jar of sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan. I used to use part of the meat sauce I made but then I didn't feel like there was enough for the rest of the layers. So I just use the remaining sauce in the jar now for the first small layer and I think it has worked a lot better. 

Then add the rest of the layers as follows: 

- uncooked Barilla lasagna noodles

- cottage cheese mixture 

- about 1/2" of sauce 

- uncooked Barilla lasagna noodles 

- rest of sauce 

- and top with Mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese 

Honestly, I kind of change up the layers sometimes. Sometimes I add a layer of Mozzarella cheese and then just put the Parmesan on top. Again, if I'm feeling cheesy :) 

When you're all done you'll have some pretty layers like this: 

5. Cover baking pan with foil. Bake covered at 350*degrees for 45 minutes. Take foil off and bake for 15 more minutes to get the cheese nice and melty and bubbly. 

6. And lastly, ENJOY!!

If you make this recipe, I would love to hear what you think! Or hear your own variations of lasagna to try out. 

And to help you make your next lasagna meal even more affordable, you can get $1 off the purchase of ONE (1) box of Barilla® Lasagne and ONE (1) Barilla® Sauce at your local Safeway store.  

Happy cooking!