Lasagne

I absolutely LOVE lasagna, but its quite time-consuming to make, so I save it for when I have a free afternoon with nothing to do. This lasagna is even better if you simmer the sauce for a few hours instead of baking right away, OR if you let the uncooked lasagna sit in the fridge overnight. When I do make lasagna, I often double the batch and put an extra lasagna in the freezer for a night when I don't have time to cook. This recipe is a modified version of 2 recipes, enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion
• 1 cup cooked spinach, drained, chopped
• 2 1/2 cups Mozzarella Shredded Cheese, divided
• 2 cups light ricotta cheese (can use cottage cheese)
• 1/2 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 (700 ml) jar pasta sauce
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1 tsp EACH basil, oregano, rosemary
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 12 lasagna noodles, uncooked
• 
  
• Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Brown meat in large skillet on medium-high heat. Meanwhile, mix 1-1/4 cups of the mozzarella cheese, the ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the parsley and egg until well blended; set aside.
2. Drain meat; return to skillet. Add onion, garlic and spinach and cook a few minutes until onion is clear. Stir in pasta sauce, tomato paste, basil, oregano, rosemary. Pour water into empty sauce jar; cover and shake well. Add to skillet; stir until well blended.
3. Spread 1 cup of the meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; top with layers of 3 lasagna noodles, one-third of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup of the meat sauce. Repeat layers two more times. Top with remaining 3 noodles and remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 1-1/4 cups mozzarella cheese and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Cover tightly with greased foil.
4. Bake 1 hour. Remove foil; continue baking 15 minutes or until heated through. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting to serve.

Source: adapted from www.allrecipes.com