Home-cooked Comfort: Lasagna

Lasagna! A favourite for people of all ages. Something that can easily be adjusted and even given a twist! We’re going super classic but I would love to delve into some of the more fun recipes too like white lasagna and Tex-Mex lasagna at a future date.

I actually used to not like lasagna very much. I know; it’s just pasta in cake form. I don't know what turned me off of it. There were a few of those plain, every kid loves them things that I just wasn't a fan of that I love now! This one is very plain so feel free to add whatever vegetables and spices you’d like (or go with a pre-made Italian seasoning) to it; I won’t be offended. You can also switch the cottage cheese to ricotta and you can use pre-made pasta sauce if you like.

**pro tip** add a little water to your pre-made (or your favourite recipe) sauce because the lasagna noodles are going to soak up some moisture and the last thing we want is a dry lasagna!

LASAGNA

Ingredients:

1 small cooking onion (I use yellow or Spanish)
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp oregano
½ tbsp basil
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp sage
salt and pepper to taste
1lb ground beef (or any other ground meat you like)
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup water

About 14 Par cooked lasagna noodles
1 tub cottage cheese

2 cups shredded cheese of your choosing (I used old cheddar but a blend of mozzarella and Parmesan is magnifique)

Directions:

So first we’re going to make out sauce.warm a tbsp of cooking oil in a pan. Dice your onion and mince your garlic. Add to the heated oil and cook until translucent. Add your spice mix and cook for another 2 minutes. Add in your beef and cook thoroughly breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. Add your tomatoes and water, bring to a simmer and turn off the heat.




Lightly oil your baking dish. Put a very small amount of sauce along the bottom to ensure your noodles will get moisture from all sides. Lay down your first layer of noodles. Mine fit 3 across and a half one on the end.







Spread about a third of your cottage cheese across the noodles, followed by about a ¼ of your sauce better to be a little generous. Lay down your next layer of noodles and follow the same steps. You should get 4 layers of noodles.







When you come to the last layer you will not use any cottage cheese and it’s okay if you have a little less sauce than the other layers. You will top this with shredded cheese (layers should go noodle, cottage cheese, sauce, noodle, cottage cheese, sauce, noodle, cottage cheese, sauce, noodle, sauce, shredded cheese.)







Cover your dish with tinfoil. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Remove tin foil and bake another 5 to 10 minutes to get that lightly browned cheese top.

The only thing left to do is fight over who gets the corner piece!

Rather than sounding like a broken record and telling you what the herbs I’ve used are used for (again...) I want to talk about the two ways we can look at lasagna as a whole. I am planning on setting up a master list of ingredients, so stay tuned for that!

The obvious use for lasagna being as a comfort food. You can expand this to courage building, anxiety calming, or illness soothing. (of course don’t use comfort foods over medical intervention. I am not a doctor and i am not a psychologist or psychiatrist.)

The other is getting to the bottom of something. Whether it be revealing lies, secrets or just a mystery you can view the layers of the lasagna as peeling back the layers on your predicament.

Of course you can stray from either of these ideas and focus on ingredients and/or simply using the layers to really pack in whatever intention you’re focusing on. With each layer repeat your intentions and you are bound to have some very magical food in your oven.


SHORT AND GRITTY

Ingredients:

1 small cooking onion (I use yellow or Spanish)
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp oregano
½ tbsp basil
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp sage
salt and pepper to taste
1lb ground beef
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup water

About 14 Par cooked lasagna noodles
1 tub cottage cheese

2 cups shredded cheese of your choosing

Directions:

1. Sautee diced onion and minced garlic until transparent
2. Add spice blend and cook another 2 minutes
3. Add ground beef and cook thoroughly
4. Add tomatoes and water, bring to a simmer and turn off the heat
5. Lightly oil baking dish and put a small amount of sauce in the bottom
6. Layer as follows: noodle, cottage cheese, sauce, noodle, cottage cheese, sauce, noodle, cottage cheese, sauce, noodle, sauce, shredded cheese
7. Bake covered with tin foil for 30 - 35 minutes at 350
8. Remove tinfoil and bake another 5 - 10 minutes
9. Fight over the corner piece