I thought the girls and I would have a nice Friday night dinner, so I decided to make a big lasagna (also had some noodles I wanted to use up in the pantry). Anyway, as it turned out, Becky went to a friend’s house to “study” and Sammi doesn’t appreciate “lumps” in her lasagna (aka ground beef), so she and I had a bit of this huge tray while watching Wheel of Fortune – so much for a nice dinner – I watched as Sammi scraped the sauce off the noodles and ate noodles and cheese.

Anyway, I liked it and would make it again. It is a bit of work because you start off making the sauce. I assembled the entire thing in the afternoon, and stuck it in the oven before going to a swim meet. I called Sammi to turn the oven on at 5:00 and dinner was ready about 6:30.

I’m hoping to freeze a chunk of the leftovers. Give it a shot though; it comes in at 8 WW points per slice.

Hearty Lasagna

3/4 pound ground round
Vegetable cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups nonfat cottage cheese
1/2 cup (1 ounce) finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 (15-ounce) container nonfat ricotta cheese
1 egg white, lightly beaten
12 cooked lasagna noodles
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Italian provolone cheese
Fresh oregano sprigs (optional)

Cook meat in a large saucepan over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble; drain and set aside. Wipe pan with a paper towel. Coat pan with cooking spray; add the onion and garlic, and sauté 5 minutes. Return meat to pan. Add 2 tablespoons parsley and next 7 ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Uncover; simmer 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

Combine remaining 2 tablespoons parsley, cottage cheese, and next 3 ingredients in a bowl; stir well, and set aside.

Spread 3/4 cup tomato mixture in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 noodles over tomato mixture; top with half of cottage cheese mixture, 2 1/4 cups tomato mixture, and 2/3 cup provolone. Repeat layers, ending with noodles. Spread the remaining tomato mixture over noodles.
Cover; bake at 350° for 1 hour. Sprinkle with remaining provolone; bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with oregano, if desired.

Yield: 9 servings
CALORIES 380 (25% from fat); FAT 10.5g (sat 5.7g,mono 3g,poly 0.7g); PROTEIN 33.4g; CHOLESTEROL 50mg; CALCIUM 394mg; SODIUM 703mg; FIBER 2.8g; IRON 3.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 40.5g

Cooking Light, JANUARY 1995