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Total Time
2 hours (plus sitting time)
Cottage cheese is a fighter. It makes you pick sides—you’re either all in or you’re up in arms. If you grew up seeing cottage cheese as something dietetic, this cottage cheese lasagna might rock your beliefs. The quintessential curds and whey make a handsome stand-in for the ricotta cheese used in a lot ofhomemade lasagna recipes. Thanks to its defined small curds, cottage cheese stays moist instead of turning chalky as ricotta is prone to do after an extended cooking time.
To round out the cheese layer, I mix in super-melter Fontina cheese (spring for an aged Fontina for even richer flavor) and nutty, savory Parmesan cheese. Yes, this lasagna eschews shredded mozzarella cheese, but I promise you won’t miss it.
A combo of Italian sausage and ground beef provides an ideal balance of flavor and texture to the meat sauce. Save the lean ground beef for another time. The resulting fat from an 80% blend is just enough to enrich the pasta sauce, making it possible to use cans of crushed tomatoes instead of pricier store-bought spaghetti sauce or marinara sauce. If you don’t eat beef or pork, feel free to swap in ground turkey and turkey sausage, but you might need an extra drizzle of olive oil to make up for the lost fat.
A generous amount ofWorcestershire sauceandtomato pastebrings intense depth and long-cooked flavor to the tomato sauce that is—surprise!—barely cooked. Retaining moisture in the sauce is key since the extra liquid gets soaked up by the uncooked lasagna noodles as the casserole bakes. That’s right, this cottage cheese lasagna ensures perfectly al dente pasta without the need to boil noodles.
Between the cottage cheese mixture and the no-cook noodles, this might not be your nonna’s traditional lasagna (we’ve gotBA’s Best Lasagnafor that), but it’s absolutely one the whole family will enjoy,whether they think they like cottage cheese or not.
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What you’ll need
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Dutch Oven
$80 At Amazon
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Box Grater
$13 At Amazon
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Wooden Spoon
$7 At Amazon
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13x9" Baking Dish
$20 At Amazon
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Rimmed Baking Sheet
$25 $22 At Amazon
Ingredients
8–12 servings
Step 1
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Heat1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oilin a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high. Cook1 lb. ground beef (20% fat)and8 oz. hot Italian sausage, casings removed, breaking up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until well browned and cooked through, 10–12 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer meat to a medium bowl, leaving fat behind.
Step 2
Add2 large onions, finely chopped,6 garlic cloves, finely chopped, and1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher saltto same pot; if pot looks dry, add up to 1 Tbsp. more oil. Cook, stirring often, until onions are translucent and golden around the edges, 8–10 minutes. Add2 Tbsp. double-concentrated tomato pasteand1 Tbsp. dried oregano; cook, stirring constantly, until paste is brick red and beginning to stick to bottom of pot, 5–8 minutes. Return meat to pot.
Step 3
Addone 28-oz. can plus one 14.5-oz. can crushed tomatoes,¼ cup Worcestershire sauce,1 tsp. sugar, and1 tsp. freshly ground pepperto pot. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally and scraping up any browned bits stuck to bottom of pot. Remove from heat and stir in2 oz. Parmesan, finely grated (about 1 cup). Taste tomato sauce and season with more salt if needed.
Step 4
Toss12 oz. Fontina cheese, grated (about 3 cups), and remaining4 oz. Parmesan, finely grated (about 2 cups)结合在一个大碗里;测量1杯cheese and set aside for topping. Add2 large eggs,24 oz. whole-milk cottage cheese, and remaining2 garlic cloves, finely chopped,2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and1 tsp. freshly ground pepperto remaining cheese in bowl. Mix vigorously with a wooden spoon until combined.
Step 5
Arrange3 regular dried lasagna noodlesin a single layer in a 13x9" baking dish. (If noodles are long, arrange parallel to long sides of baking dish; if noodles are short, arrange parallel to short sides of baking dish. Don’t worry about any gaps—noodles will swell as they cook.) Spread 1½ cups tomato sauce over noodles. Scatter one third of Fontina mixture evenly over sauce (mixture will be stiff; use hands to break off small pieces and scatter over sauce). Starting with another layer of noodles, repeat process, creating 4 layers of noodles in total and ending with a layer of tomato sauce. Top lasagna with reserved cheese.
Step 6
Place baking dish on a large rimmed baking sheet (to catch drips) and bake lasagna until sauce is bubbling around the edges, top is golden brown, and noodles are al dente (insert a skewer into center of lasagna to check), 75–85 minutes. Let sit at least 15 minutes and up to 45 minutes before serving.
Do Ahead:Lasagna can be baked 2 days ahead. Let cool completely; cover loosely with foil and chill. Reheat, covered, in a 325° oven until warmed through, 30–45 minutes.
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