Simple Baked Lasagna - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil (for this, I use inexpensive olive oil from Spain)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons sweet basil
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
salt, to taste
fresh ground pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
16 ounces lasagna noodles
4 ounces ricotta cheese
4 ounces cottage cheese
12 ounces monterey jack cheese, shredded

Preparation

Brown meat and onion in olive oil. Add garlic, tomato paste, water, basil, parsley, salt and pepper, and sugar. Mix well, and simmer at least 20 minutes.
Cook lasagna noodles according to directions on the package. Drain.
Mix together the ricotta and cottage cheeses. Set aside.
Layer the ingredients, in a prepared 9x12 casserole dish, in the following order: noodles, ricotta-cottage cheese mixture, jack cheese, and sauce. Repeat until all noodles, ricotta-cottage cheese mixture, and sauce are used up. Reserve a portion of the jack cheese to sprinkle a thick layer on top. (Don't make the cheese and sauce layers too thick, as your goal is to have enough cheese and sauce to use all of the noodles.)
Bake at 350 degrees F about 20 minutes, or until cheese on top is melted and bubbly. Serve hot.