I know it's messy but it will blow your freakin' mind. This lasagna weighs around 10-15 pounds. It makes you truly want to ask yourself, "Do I really want a baby, or do I just want lasagna?"
The original recipe, from which I modified this recipe, is: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/23600/worlds-best-lasagna/
The recipe is here, and pictures of the process are below:
Ingredients:
Sauce:
1 pound sweet Italian sausage (454 g)
3/4 pound lean or medium ground beef (340 g)
1/2 cup minced onion (70 g)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz. (796 mL) can crushed tomatoes
1 12 oz. (354 mL) can tomato paste
1 14.5 oz. (428 mL) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 tbsp. white sugar (18 g)
1/2 Tbsp. dried basil leaves (1.3 g)
½ tsp. fennel seeds (1 g)
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning (3 g)
2 tsp. salt (10 g)
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper (.3 g)
2 tbsp. fresh or dried parsley
For assembling:
12-16 lasagna noodles (for 3 or 4 layers)
22 oz. (623 g) container of cottage cheese
1 Tbsp. salt for boiling pasta
12 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese (or more)
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Note: Feel free to use hot/spicy Italian sausage instead of mild.
Open all three cans of tomato products.
Measure the basil leaves, sugar, salt, Italian seasoning, ground black pepper, and parsley into a small bowl.
In a large pot, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce. Then mix in the spices. Simmer while covered for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling, salted water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
To assemble, spread healthy amount of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan. Arrange 4 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread mozzarella, cottage cheese, parmesan, and more meat sauce on top and repeat. The top will be noodles and can be covered with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking coat the bottom of the tin foil with cooking spray or butter.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before servings.
Make Ahead Note: You can make the lasagna and/or sauce ahead of time and refrigerate 1-2 days before baking. However, it may need up to 90 minutes or more to bake when chilled. The internal temperature should be at least 165°F when fully baked.
The ingredients I used.
Open the tomato products.
Measure out the spices and set aside.
Add the onion, ground beef, italian sausage, and minced garlic to a pot. And begin to cook for about 10 minutes, breaking up the meat.
After cooking.
Add the tomato products and spices.
And mix it together.
Next we'll cover and simmer it for an hour and a half.
WHen the sauce is almost ready, boil the lasagna noodles.
And drain, set aside. You can mix in a little butter to reduce sticking.
The sauce is done simmering! Time to start assembling!
Prepare a pan by lightly greasing it.
So I start with some sauce for a base.
Then noodles.
Mozzarella, cottage cheese, and parmesan.
Then after this layer of sauce you will do noodles, cheeses etc. until you reach the top!