Lasagna With Italian Sausage And Spinach - cooking recipe

Ingredients

12 ounces dried lasagna noodles, cooked in boiling water
3 tablespoons oil
1 onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 lb mild Italian sausage, casings removed
1 teaspoon minced garlic
30 ounces diced tomatoes, canned
6 ounces tomato paste
1/4 cup parsley, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed
16 ounces small curd cottage cheese
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 lb mozzarella cheese, grated
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Preparation

Rinse cooked lasagna noodles and set aside. Be sure that you don't use more than 12 oz. or the lasagna will be too dry.
Meanwhile, in a dutch oven or other large vessel, put the oil, onion and green bell pepper. Saute over medium heat until the onion is tender.
Add the sausage and garlic and stir-fry until well browned, chopping up the meat as you stir, to make sure all of the pieces are small.
Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, oregano, basil and 1 teaspoons salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, press out the water from the thawed spinach so that it is very dry. Put the spinach into a medium-size mixing bowl.
Add the cottage cheese, egg, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoons salt and black pepper to the spinach. Stir until well mixed.
In another medium-size bowl put the grated Mozzarella cheese.
In a lasagna pan that you have oiled, put down 1/3 of the tomato-meat sauce.
Cover with 1/2 of the lasagna noodles.
Top with 1/2 of the spinach-cottage cheese filling.
Top with half of the mozzarella cheese.
Repeat using 1/3 of the tomato-meat sauce, remaining noodles, remaining spinach filling and mozzarella cheese.
Top with the remaining 1/3 of the tomato-meat sauce and sprinkle 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese over the very top.
Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 45 minutes.
You might wonder whether or not there is enough tomato sauce, but once the lasagna heats up and the cheese gets gooey, there is enough sauce. I don't like a a lasagna with lots of runny heavy tomato sauce that covers the taste of everything else in the lasagna. If you feel like you need a bit more, add an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce to the tomato-meat sauce.