While stumbling last week, I came across a recipe for the Best Lasagna Ever over on The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I read through the post, and not only did the lasagna look very good, it also looked easy. Since I’m taking things slowly over here (you know, let’s make sure we can successfully boil water before we attempt to make something incredibly complicated), easy is a very good thing. Even better, reading through the comments they were largely positive. So the thought formed in my mind… I could pick up all the ingredients and invite my mom and her husband over for dinner on Sunday. And just like that, I was committed.
You can read the original post, and the original recipe at the link above, or you can follow along with me here. I’m a cheater, so there are a few deviations here.

The Ingredients

Lasagna noodles, 1.5 lbs of ground beef, 1lb of Italian sausage, minced garlic, parsley flakes, dried basil, cottage cheese, 2 eggs (not pictured), parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese slices, whole tomatoes and tomato paste. And no, the amaretto in the background was not in the ingredient list.

Making Lasagna
The first step was to brown the 1.5 pounds of ground beef with the one pound of sausage, and 1/2 tsp. minced garlic. The original recipe called for Hot breakfast sausage, but I’m a wimp, so I went for Italian instead as it’s slightly less “Oh my goodness, my mouth’s on FIRE!” It also called for 2 cloves of garlic, minced, but I’m lazy and bought a jar of ready to use minced garlic instead. In the pan it went.

In the original, she begs everyone not to drain all of the fat off, for PETE’s sake, but I couldn’t help it. I’m usually a “rinser” so I resisted doing that before returning the meat to the pan. That has to count for something, doesn’t it? Right?
Well anyways, then it was time to continue making the meat sauce, so to my cooked meat, I added 28 oz. of whole tomatoes, 12 oz. of tomato paste, 2 tbs. parsley flakes, 2 tbs. dried basil, 1 tsp. salt.

You’re supposed to let it simmer, uncovered for about 45 minutes. This is what mine looked like about 35 minutes in.

Then it was time to make the cottage cheese mixture that gets layered in the lasagna. 3 cups of cottage cheese, 2 beaten eggs, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 2 tbs. parsley flakes, and 1 tsp. salt. A few people had complained in the comments of Ree’s recipe post that it was too salty, so I was skimpy on that teaspoon of salt, thinking some could be added later, if need be.

For the life of me, I can’t believe that I didn’t get a picture of the mixed up cottage cheese mixture, or of the first layer of noodles in the pan. Oh well… the noodles were my second cheat. Instead of attempting to cook them myself, I opted for Oven-ready lasagna noodles. Those went down first. Then, half of the cottage cheese mixture was spread evenly on top.

Following that, one pound of mozzarella cheese slices was layered on top.

Followed by one half of the meat mixture.

At this point, I didn’t find it necessary to photograph each additional layer. You simply rinse and repeat: another layer of lasagna noodles, then cottage cheese mixture followed by mozzarella cheese, and the remaining meat sauce. Finally, you sprinkle a generous amount of parmesan cheese on top.

Then it goes in the oven at 350 degrees for “20-30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.”

Very good. So how was it?

The Verdict
Well, my Oven Ready Lasagna noodles did not finish cooking in the 30 minute time frame, so the lasagna went back in the oven while we all ate our salads. For this, I was very disappointed since I had envisioned a lovely photograph of a plate with a piece of lasagna, garlic bread, and a serving of my favorite salad. Alas, that was not to be. Oh well. I was mostly concerned about the fact that the noodles hadn’t cooked thoroughly. Novice, nervous cookers do not like anything to go wrong.
In the end, we all agreed that the lasagna turned out very nicely. Everyone gave it a thumbs up, but we all held back from calling it the best lasagna ever. Good? Yes. But the best? We still have our reservations. My mom did say, though, that it was a recipe worth making again.

What I’d do differently
I think next time, I’ll actually cook my lasagna noodles. It will be a good, non-frightening experience, and then my lasagna will actually be done on schedule!
I’d also add more cheese, and a layer of noodles on top. I felt like the cheese/noodle/meat ratio was way off. But that’s probably exactly what makes this lasagna so appealing to everyone else.