For me, lasagna is all about the cheese. I’m not big on tomatoes, but if there’s enough cheese, it is quite a tasty dish. My mom’s lasagna uses 4 kinds of cheese for the best combination of flavors.

This recipe still makes a lot, but it is actually 1/2 the size of the original! The recipe looks long, but it’s actually pretty easy put together.

Preheat the oven to 375 and spray a 9 X 13 and an 8 X 8 pan.

Noodles

Cook according to package directions:

1 lb. lasagna noodles

Drain the noodles and cover them with cold water until you are ready to assemble the lasagna. This will prevent them from cooking further and keep you from burning your hands on hot noodles! I was successful in cooking my noodles in the Instant Pot for 5 minutes with a quick release.

Meat Sauce

In a large pot, cook until browned:

1 lb. Italian sausauge

Mix with the meat:

2 cans/jars of spaghetti sauce (48 oz. total)

Cheese Mixture

Stir all together in a large bowl:

15 oz. ricotta cheese

2 c. cottage cheese

2 c. sour cream

1 lb. mozzarella cheese

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

Assembling the Lasagna

Now for the fun part: layering! I do the larger pan first and use what’s leftover for the smaller pan, using about 1/2 as much for each layer in that pan. The amounts here will be for the larger pan.

Starting with the bottom, layer as follows:

1/2 c. sauce

Repeat 3 times:

noodles (3 across)

1 c. sauce

1 1/2 c. cheese mixture

Add one more layer of noodles and end with sauce. Repeat for the smaller pan.

Cover both pans with foil and bake at 375 for 1 hour, or until they are very hot and bubbly. Serve the lasagna with steamed veggies, salad, and/or garlic bread.

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