Lasagna is one of my favorite comfort foods. Every time I make it, I am simply amazed at how such simple ingredients can quickly come together to create a flavorful dish.

Cottage cheese and keeping it real

This lasagna recipe differs from most others because it replaces all the ricotta of the traditional recipe with cottage cheese. Last week on Food Thinkers, there was a story about Authentic Lasagna for Carnivores that demeaned cottage cheese as a replacement, and I am standing up for it with this recipe.

I use cottage cheese because it is low in fat compared to ricotta, lower still so if you use low-fat cottage cheese. I don’t think the texture suffers at all and, in fact, once everything has spent time in the oven, the cottage cheese is nicely melted and smooth. I also use slices of mozzarella, which make for nice, even layers with full cheesy coverage.

Light lasagna can also be tasty

To be honest, I am as far away from a health nut as you can get. I don’t use cottage cheese because I am trying to trim some pounds off my waist. I use it because my friend’s mom had it in her recipe and I thought, “Why not? It’s different, let’s try it.” And you know what? It’s really good lasagna.

Way quicker

It’s also very easy to make. I agree that the gourmet lasagna from last week is great, but it also looks like a lot of work. I would estimate 2.5 hours of work before you are ready to eat.

This recipe preparation is done in half that time and 30 mins of it is the baking in my countertop oven. It’s like mac and cheese — quick and customizable. You can tailor it to your tastes — try 3 types of cheese, homemade breadcrumbs, shaved truffles, cream sauce with milk, flour to thicken, etc. But it remains super quick and super easy.

Holds its own — and then some

And this recipe is damn good. Put it this way — I’ve had several people tell me they either refused to eat lasagna or never found one better than their mom’s until they had this.

Call it comfort food. Call it a standby favorite. Or call it a meal that puts a big smile on your face. This dish really hits the spot.

Cottage Cheese Lasagna

Ingredients

• 12 lasagna noodles — use the no-cook kind
• 1 pound of ground beef — no leaner than 80/20
• 12-ounce can of tomato paste
• 1½ cups water
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 2 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon basil
• 8 ounces low fat cottage cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
• ¾ pound mozzarella cheese, sliced, not shredded
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

We are using no-cook noodles here, which save a lot of time. Make sure the sauce covers every inch of the noodles or else they won’t cook.

Instructions

1. Brown the ground beef in a skillet. Break the beef up into smaller pieces, but leave some large chunks.
2. Pour off almost all of the fat. Stir in tomato paste, water, parsley, salt, and basil.
3. Simmer for 10 minutes, covered. Meanwhile, blend cottage cheese and eggs.
4. In 13×9×2-inch pan (use a throwaway aluminum pan for easy cleanup) spread a layer of noodles — use four noodles per layer, slightly overlapping if necessary. Cover with a thin layer of meat sauce, then add another layer of noodles. Evenly spread all of the cottage cheese mixture, then layer half the mozzarella slices on top.
5. Cover mozzarella with half of the remaining meat sauce, then all the remaining noodles. Top with remaining meat sauce and mozzarella slices. Sprinkle with Parmesan.
6. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
7. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.