Lasagna is a family favorite in my home. Everyone has a love for these layers of delicious gooey cheese and pasta. The very simple red sauce, makes this meal super simple to put together but feels like you spent all day preparing it. My Easy Cheese Lasagna is one of those “meat-less” meals that you do not really miss having meat in it. The technique of building and baking this lasagna is what makes the real impact for these simple ingredients.
While cottage cheese may not be the traditional cheese filling for a lasagna, it is so good in this recipe. While ricotta cheese is more traditional, cottage cheese provides about a third more protein than ricotta. And if you really mix the egg, seasonings and cottage cheese together, you will get a texture similar to ricotta. Cottage cheese is also typically less expensive than ricotta cheese. Truth be told I have served this to my kids on more than one occasion and they have never been able to tell the difference.
Substitutes and Variations:
This recipe is for a meat-less option, however you can easily add meat in a layer between the cottage cheese mixture and the mozzarella cheese. Cooked and crumbled Italian sausage is usually my favorite addition. Another fun addition is to add a layer of pesto sauce between the cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese. This adds a punch of both flavor and color.
Suggestions for Sides:
A nice bread stick and some caesar salad really rounds out this meal. Another really tasty side for this Cheese Lasagna is my Italian Roast Carrots. They have a great complementary flavor to them and give you all the veg you need.
Tools that may make this recipe easier:
Not a lot is needed in the way of special tools for this recipe. You need a 13×9 baking dish – or you could use a disposable foil pan to reduce clean up.
Now Let’s Get Cookin’!
Easy Cheese Lasagna
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Cottage Cheese
- 6 Egg beaten
- 1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese divided
- 4 cups Mozzarella Cheese shredded
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- ½ White Onion diced
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 2 tbsp Italian Seasoning divided
- 1 tsp Granulated Garlic
- ¼ cup White Sugar or Honey
- 4 cups Tomato Puree
- 1 pkg Oven-Ready Lasagna Sheets
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400degF.
- In a sauce pan over medium high heat, add oil and onion. Saute until softened. Then add tomato puree, garlic, salt, pepper, sugar and one tablespoon Italian seasoning. Reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes.
- In a bowl, combine cottage cheese, beaten egg, remaining Italian seasoning, and half of parmesan cheese.
- In a deep 13×9 baking dish, add a half of sauce to cover the bottom. Layer with lasagna sheets then half of the cottage cheese mixture. Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Then layer with lasagna sheets and the other half the cottage cheese mixture and then another cup of mozzarella cheese.
- Then top with another layer of lasagna sheets and add the remaining sauce. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and then foil. Place in oven and bake for 50 minutes.
- Remove from oven and remove plastic wrap and foil. Sprinkle with remaining two cups of mozzarella cheese and half cup of parmesan cheese. Return to oven to bake another 15 minutes.
- Let rest at least 10 minutes (20 minutes are better) before cutting and serving.
Notes
I love to link up my posts to lots of blogs around the internet – check out this Ultimate Handy Linky Party List to find some of the places I share to!
Estelle Forrest self-published this cookbook after a lot of playing around in the kitchen. You can purchase your own copy here:
AVAILABLE IN PRINT OR KINDLE eBOOK VERSIONS
Don’t miss new recipes from Homemade on a Weeknight – subscribe and get an email with every new post!
