Christmas Eve Lasagna

Yes, I do know that Christmas has come and gone – and this is not the actual name of the recipe – but it’s what we had for dinner Christmas Eve!  This recipe comes from the first cookbook I bought – in 1975.  That’s telling my age, isn’t it?  This was a pre-Ritchey cookbook so it has my maiden name and the date written at the top of the first page.  It’s the recipe my family adores!  It’s from a Betty Crocker cookbook that is so stained with everything imaginable – and I gave it to Kate last year for Christmas!  She has wanted it for a long time – encrusted flour, stains and all!  It’s the cookbook she used when she started cooking!  And she almost cried when she opened her package!  This year she and Linton received a cookbook made from all my blogs – complete with photos and notes.

Kate was my number one help in the kitchen this year – can’t tell you how many times that dishwasher was filled!  But we had a wonderful weekend together, filled with lots of love and lots of food!

There are a few changes that I’ve included in my version!  And one day I will try making my own pasta – not quite brave enough to do that on Christmas Eve!

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound sausage
• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 – 15 ounce can tomatoes
• 1 – 15 ounce can tomato sauce
• 2 handfuls parsley flakes
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 handful basil leaves
• 3 cups cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, finely shredded
• 1 handful parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 handful oregano leaves
• 8 ounces lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
• 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, finely shredded

Cook and stir ground beef, sausage, onion and garlic in a large skillet until meat is brown and onion is tender.  Drain all fat.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, 2 handfuls parsley flakes, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and basil.  Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat; simmer uncovered about 1 hour.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix cottage cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 1 handful parsley flakes, 1 teaspoon salt and the oregano.  Reserve 1/2 cup meat sauce for thin top layer.

In an ungreased 13x9x2 baking pan layer 1/4 each of the noodles, meat sauce, mozzarella cheese and cottage cheese mixture; repeat 3 times.  Spread reserved meat sauce over the top; sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.

Bake uncovered 45 minutes.  Let stand 15 minutes after removing from oven for easier cutting.  Enjoy!

One more quick story about this cookbook.  A friend of mine, who could not boil water, and whose husband did all the cooking, decided one day to surprise him by cleaning and organizing the kitchen.  She came to his cookbooks, saw the Betty Crocker and decided it was too old, had too many spills, and too many pages that were just stuffed back in the book – so she threw it out!  He was so upset when he got home!  His favorite spaghetti sauce recipe was on the same page as this lasagna recipe!  She was in tears!  We checked at a bookstore, but the newer versions of this book did not have these particular recipes.  I made a copy of the one page, but there were many other recipes he used!  I started checking antique shops and used bookstores – and finally, after several months, found one!  Needless to say that was a very happy household that night!  And the moral of this story is . . .