From the kitchen of Joy Wilder, Waxahachie, Texas
Ingredients:
1 pound ground Italian sausage
½ pound lean ground beef
2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 tablespoon fresh chopped or 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 can(15 ounce), plus one can (8 ounce) tomato sauce
9 to 12 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 container (15 ounce) Ricotta or small curd cottage cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups grated Mozzarella cheese
Directions:
1. Cook sausage, ground meet, onion and garlic in 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sausage is no longer pink, drain.
2. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the parsley, the basil, sugar, tomatoes and tomato sauce, breaking up the tomatoes with a fork or kitchen shears. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally, reduce heat and simmer uncovered about 45 minutes or until slightly thickened.
3. Heat oven to 350. Cook the noodles as directed on the package.
4. While the noodles are cooking, mix the ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, oregano and the remaining parsley together.
5. Drain and rinse the noodles. Spread a thin layer of the meat mixture on the bottom of a 13x9x2 ungreased rectangular baking dish. Top with 3 noodles, add more of the meat mixture, drop spoonfuls of the cheese mixture on top, sprinkle on the Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Continue the layers, top with Parmesan cheese.
6. Cover and bake 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes longer or until the lasagna is hot and bubbly. Let stand about 10 minutes before cutting.