Food=Memories

I love to cook...that's not a secret....and one of the things I love MOST about cooking is the memories that are associated with certain recipes.  Everytime I make horseshoe cookies, I'm transported back to a time when I first learned how to make them with my Grandma Brooks. When I make the chicken spaghetti casserole, which has become my standard take and bake entree for families with newborns, I think back to a special little lady named Luz, who brought this very dish to a church potlock and for me it was love at first bite !  "My" lasagna recipe is exactly the same. There are a MILLION-BAZILLION ways to cook lasagna, but this has become my favorite. It originates from a dear friend who has since moved many miles away. Greg and Liz hosted our small group from church and she and her mom came up with this heavenly concoction. I remember being a little apprehensive because Dewayne was away working on outages from Hurricane Katrina so I was going it alone. That night, a group of friends gathered around their kitchen and we feasted on lasagna. I will never forget the warmth, laughter, and acceptance I felt. I asked for a copy of the recipe and the rest is history.  I have since made it for others and always receive compliments.  I have to chuckle at one instance when I cooked it for a family and she later confided in me that every time she saw me in sunday school class, she thought of lasagna...I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but I'll take it !   So, I find myself making this dish today in honor of my dear friend Stacy for her birthday tomorrow.  She is another fan of the recipe and I am happy to treat her with a pan all her own.  I hope you'll try it and maybe make some memories for your friends and family.   Enjoy.

LASAGNA

2 TB olive oil
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
2 garlic cloves minced
1 lb hamburger or ground turkey
28 oz crushed tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
2 TB dried parsley, divided
2 TB dried basil
lasagna noodles
16 oz cottage cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (not from the green can, use the REAL DEAL)
1 egg
1 lb grated mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Fill a large 13 x 9 baking dish with hot tap water and allow lasagna noodles to sit in the water while preparing lasagna.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet. Cook onion until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Add the meat and cook together until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 TB parsley, basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

In another bowl, combine cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, and remaining 1 TB parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Drain lasagna noodles.

Ladle a little sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Then add layers as follows:
1/2 pasta
1/2 mozzarella
1/2 cottage cheese
1/3 meat sauce
rest of pasta
rest of mozzarella cheese
rest of cottage cheese
rest of sauce

I top it with more mozz and parm cheese. Bake for 30 minutes until sauce is bubbling.


*You may notice in my picture that there are TWO pans of lasagna.  Gracie and I are the only Perry lasagna lovers so needless to say, I don't cook this dish for our family very often. Whenever I make it for someone else, I try to make a little loaf pan lasagna using one lasagna noodle per layer.  Just a little trick if you want to try it next time you want to take someone a meal but keep a little for yourself !