1/2 - 1 lb. protein - an old world Polish sausage, Italian sausage, chicken sausage, hamburger...
veggies - a chopped onion, sliced mushrooms, blanched/squeezed spinach...
lasagna noodles (enough for two layers in the pan) OR a whole eggplant and a bunch of spinach
a jar of your favorite pasta sauce (mine is currently Classico's Spicy Tomato & Basil)
half a can of tomato sauce (add to pasta sauce if using eggplant instead of noodles... it helps keep things from getting too watery)
16-24 oz container cottage cheese
6-8 oz grated mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cook protein in skillet. When it's browned, add onion, mushrooms... until cooked and nicely browned. Add pasta sauce and heat through.
Cook lasagna noodles. OR saute eggplant slices in a little olive oil until about half cooked and a little browned. If spinach is young, just wash it; if mature, wash and coarsely chop... then either quickly blanch and squeeze it as dry as possible in a dishtowel or quickly dry-fry it to remove as much liquid as you can without browning it.
Mix cottage cheese and mozzarella.
If using spinach either add to sauce now or use for a not-noodle layer as described below.
In a baking dish (BIGGER THAN 7"x11" up to 9"x13"), spread 1/4 to 1/3 meat sauce in the bottom. Cover with a layer of lasagna noodles or eggplant slices. Layer half of cheese mixture and half of remaining sauce. Add another layer of noodles, eggplant (or spinach). Layer the rest of cheese and finish with the rest of sauce.
Bake for 30 minutes. Remove and let sit 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.
