lasagna

It looks a bit white because I ended my top layer with only cheese mixture. Make sure to end with enough meat mixture!

This is one of my husband's favorite dishes. I love it when he request what he wants to eat for dinner. I always ask him "dinner nani tabetai?" (what do you want to eat for dinner?) and usually I get, "nandemo ii" (anything's fine) but once in a while he tells me what he wants, which makes things easier! 

Ingredients:

Ground beef (or turkey) - 1 lbs
Italian sausage - 1 lbs

Can tomatoes (diced) - 2
Tomato paste - 1/2 can (small can)
Ketchup or tomato sauce - 1/3 cup
Sugar - 3 TBS

Onion - 1 (chopped finely)
Garlic - 3 cloves (minced)
Carrots - 1 cup (chopped finely)**see TIPS

Butter - 2 TBS

Egg - 1 (beaten)
Ricotta or Cottage cheese - 2 cups (**see TIPS)
Mozzarella cheese  - a lot

Lasagna noodle - enough to make one 9 by 13 baking dish (1 box of lasagna noodles is enough)

Prep:

1. Chop onion, garlic and carrots finely. 
2. Take the outer layer out for Italian sausage so you have the ground meat version of the sausage.
3. Open all the cans for easy cooking. 
4. Mix egg, ricotta/cottage cheese and 1tsp of salt and dash of pepper in a bowl. Refrigerate until later use.
5. Boil the lasagna noodles and set it on aluminum foil so it won't stick (see TIPS).

Cook:

1. In a big pot, melt butter. Add onion and garlic. Fry for about 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Add in carrots. Fry for another 3 minutes. 
2. Add in ground beef and sausage. Break the big chunks of meat into smaller size. Brown it for about 5 minutes, stirring to make sure it won't stick to the pot. 
3. Add in 1tsp of salt and pepper. 
4. Add 2 cans of tomatoes, 1/2 can of tomato paste, sugar and ketchup or tomato sauce. Mix well and let it simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The mixture will start to dry up a bit. Taste the sauce and adjust to your liking. Add in water if the mixture is too dry or the taste is too strong.
5. While waiting for the sauce to be done, preheat your oven to 375 degrees
6. Use 9 by 13 baking dish. Line the bottom layer with 1. lasagna noodle. Followed by 2. meat mixture, 3. cottage cheese mixture and then 4. handful of mozzarella cheese. Repeat the 4 steps until you fill the whole pan and end with mozzarella cheese (don't end with noodles, it'll dry up). Add extra mozzarella cheese on top for gooey goodness. 
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes and check. If the top is turning brown, cover with foil and cook for another 10 minutes. If it's not browned yet, you don't have to cover. 

Fry onion, carrots and garlic

Add in all the tomatoes (sauce, diced, ketchup, etc) + sugar

The pot is too small, so I recommend using a bigger one (than 5 quarts)

Consistency should be like meat sauce

Serve:

1. Take out the pan (and don't forget to turn off the oven!) and cool it for 10 minutes before serving.
2. Serve with bread sticks or salad.  

It doesn't show the layers well because we didn't wait before serving. So wait for 10 minutes, and it'll be easier to cut

TIPS

• Use turkey/chicken meat for healthier option
• If you are not a big fan of cottage cheese, just add one cup (or 1 and half) of cottage cheese and 1/2 to 1 cup of sour cream. It gives smooth texture to that layer. 
• Some store sells 'no-boil' lasagna noodles, which saves you time!
• If you want your family to eat more veggies, you can sneak in mushrooms, celery, and green bell peppers (all chopped up finely!) They won't know it's there.