Spinach and Beef Lasagna

Contributed by Dawn Marie Hamilton

Many years ago, my sister, Lynn, introduced her lasagna recipe to our family. Since then, hardly a family gathering has gone by without one of the Hamilton girls making 'the lasagna'. I added spinach recently at my husband's request. We really like the new recipe…

Ingredients

For the sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground beef
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1/4 cup water

8-ounces lasagna noodles (12 noodles), cooked
1 pound part skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup finely ground parmesan cheese

16-ounce part skim ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten

1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

1. Pour oil into a frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, brown beef. Drain off excess fat. Stir in garlic, salt, parsley, oregano, basil, sugar, tomato sauce, tomato paste and water. Bring to boil then simmer for 15 minutes. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, slice ¾ of mozzarella cheese into 27 pieces and set aside, cube remaining ¼ of mozzarella cheese to mix into ricotta in step 3.

3. Mix ricotta, cubed mozzarella cheese (step 2), egg, spinach, salt and pepper.

Add sauce and repeat layers.

4. Spoon a small amount of sauce into bottom of lasagna pan. Layer 4 noodles, 1/3 ricotta mixture, 1/3 parmesian, 9 slices of mozzarella, sauce. Repeat for 3 layers. Cover pan with aluminum foil.

5. Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 5 more minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and serve.

Enjoy!!