Four Cheese Lasagna

This is my kind of homemade — all the cozy, cheesy goodness without boiling noodles, simmering sauce from scratch, or dirtying every dish in the kitchen. A few smart shortcuts make this lasagna easy to pull together, but once it’s bubbling out of the oven, it tastes like you worked on it all afternoon.

Ingredients

For the meat sauce

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
  I prefer 93% lean from Sam’s Club

• 2 jars spaghetti sauce (Prego is my favorite)

• 1 6 oz. jar tomato paste

• 1 teaspoon garlic salt

• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

For the cheese mixture

• 1 container ricotta cheese

• 16 ounces cottage cheese

• 2 eggs

• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

• 4 tablespoons butter, melted

• 1 teaspoon garlic salt

• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

For assembling

• 1 box Barilla Oven-Ready Lasagna

• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 375°F and lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

2. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet, breaking it apart as it cooks. Drain any excess grease if needed.

3. Add both jars of spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, 1 teaspoon garlic salt, and 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning. Stir well and allow the sauce to warm through.

Make the Cheese Mixture

4. While the meat sauce is cooking, whisk the 2 eggs in a large mixing bowl.

5. Add the ricotta, cottage cheese, 1 cup mozzarella, 1 cup Parmesan, melted butter, remaining 1 teaspoon garlic salt, and remaining 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning.

6. Stir until everything is well combined.

Assemble the Lasagna

7. Spread a layer of meat sauce across the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

8. Add a layer of oven-ready lasagna noodles, followed by a layer of the cheese mixture.

9. Continue layering meat sauce, noodles, and cheese mixture until all of the ingredients are used, finishing with cheese mixture on top.

10. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella and 1 cup Parmesan and a healthy shake from both the garlic salt and Italian seasoning.

Bake

11. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

12. Remove the foil and bake for another 5–10 minutes, until the cheese is melted, browned, and bubbly.

13. Let the lasagna rest for 10–15 minutes before slicing.

Salt Note

Oven-ready noodles are the hero here — no boiling, no extra pot, and no wrestling with sticky noodles. Before covering the lasagna, spray the underside of the foil with a little nonstick cooking spray so all that beautiful melted cheese stays where it belongs: on the lasagna.