Recipe: Lasagne Casserole

Sometimes there just isn't time to layer a nice lasagne together. For those who might be a little bit more rushed, this is a perfect recipe for you! I've adapted my mom's normal lasagne recipe to a casserole style, and I added some extra hidden nutrition - because, if you're going to feast on pasta and cheese, you should be getting a little something good too :)

Ingredients:

• Pasta - I used whole grain, and used spaghetti and elbows, just using up left over bits
• Pasta Sauce
• Ground beef - I used ground chicken because it was in my freezer, any sort of ground meat will work
• Mozzarella cheese
• Cottage cheese, one large container
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 can mushrooms, or fresh mushrooms
• Fresh spinach, chopped
• To taste add: garlic, parsley and red pepper flakes

1. Start boiling the water for the noodles, and browning the meat. 

2. Combine in a casserole dish, I am using my Dutch oven - cottage cheese, sauce, mushrooms, spinach (chop very finely if you want to hide it from picky eaters), handful of mozzarella and dry spices. 

3. Sautee onions and garlic, when onions are translucent - add to the casserole dish. 

4. Once meat is browned, and noodles cooked - add to casserole dish, ladle a little bit of the pasta water into the dish as well. 

5. Mix everything together, very well.

6. Top with shredded cheese and bake

I baked my dish at 400F for an hour. This may differ depending on the dish you have. You want to be sure that it is cooked thoroughly. I cooked mine covered for the first 45 minutes, and then uncovered for the last 15 minutes to finish off the cheese topping. The lid / cover helps keep it nice and moist as you can tell, it is all saucy above the nice crispy cheese: