Grandma Rose's Christmas Lasagna

For the meat sauce:
8 ounces bulk Italian sausage or lean ground beef
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups spaghetti sauce

For the ricotta filling:
11⁄2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese or low-fat (1% milkfat) cottage cheese, drained
1⁄3 cup grated Parmesan cheese or Romano cheese
1⁄4 cup minced parsley
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

For the casserole:
9 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella or provolone cheese (8 ounces)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. To prepare the meat sauce, in a large saucepan, cook the sausage, onion, and garlic over moderately high heat until sausage is browned. Remove from saucepan and drain well. Wipe out the saucepan. Return the meat mixture to saucepan. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Meanwhile, to prepare the ricotta filling, in a medium-size mixing bowl, stir together the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and egg white.


3. To prepare the casserole, spread 2 cups of the meat sauce over bottom of a lightly greased 13" x 9" x 2" baking dish. Place 3 dry noodles, side by side, on top of sauce (do not overlap). Spread with half of the ricotta filling. Spoon 11⁄2 cups of the meat sauce over (tip, above right). Sprinkle with one-third of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers of noodles, ricotta filling, meat sauce, and mozzarella. Then, top with the remaining noodles, meat sauce, and mozzarella.

4. Bake, covered, for 35 to 40 minutes or until noodles are tender. Uncover; bake for 5 minutes more. Let stand 10 minutes.

Number of Servings: 12

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user NEXTYEAR.