Loaded Lasagna, Bright & Beauteous

Ingredients:
1 box (9 oz) Barilla brand, oven-ready, "No Boiling Required" lasagna noodles (bright idea)
2 eggs
1 container (15 oz) cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
4 C (16 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 C (2 oz) grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb ground beef: cook, crumble & drain. Cook ahead & freeze to speed up any ground beef dish prep (bright idea)
2- 24-oz jars pasta sauce
Optional Ingredients: Spinach, mushrooms (loaded). Strain frozen spinach.

Preparation:

Spinach & mushrooms will be added to one of the pans, next time.

• In medium bowl, beat eggs. Stir in cottage cheese, 2 cups of mozzarella, and the Parmesan cheese.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
• Do not pre-boil the lasagna noodles. 
• Use two 2-1/2-inch-deep baking dishes (rather than one 9"x13" deep-dish pan), for a serving dish at each end of the table (beauteous). If cooking for 4 or less, simply half the recipe and use just one baking dish.

Lasagna layering, for 2 baking dishes:

• First:      Spray baking dishes. 
• Second: Spread sauce on bottom of dishes (1 C split between two baking dishes)
• Layer 1: Uncooked lasagna sheets. 1/2 of ricotta mixture. Half of browned meat. 1 C mozzarella. 1 C sauce (split ingredients between the two baking dishes).
• Layer 2: (Repeat Layer 1)
• Layer 3: Uncooked lasagna sheets. Remaining 1 C sauce. Remaining 1 C mozzarella cheese (split ingredients between the two baking dishes).

Bake, covered with aluminum foil, until bubbling, 50-60 minutes. Uncover and cook another 5 minutes. After removing from the oven, let stand 15 minutes to set or congeal before cutting (premature cutting will cause lasagna squares to muddle).

Color & camo cups for our front-line Administrative Professionals Lunch

Serves 8-10, depending on the number of side dishes.

Suggestion: Serve with lettuce salad, Italian bread, and brownies.

My last-minute luncheon centerpiece was a lettuce salad rather than the bird's nest pictured. I used a tall truffle-like glass container, layered with lettuce, colorful peppers, cherry tomatoes and delicious Feta cheese. Practical and pretty, too.