Meatball Lasagna Recipe

I know you are reading the title and thinking, meatball lasagna?  I've never heard of that before... Well, me neither, but trust me it's delish.  Lasagna can be a tedious meal to make especially if you are into the layers like me.  And, boiling 10 inch lasagna noodles in a 6 inch deep pot is nothing short of a joke, right?  So, kudos to whoever invented the oven ready version.  You get to take a shortcut on time and your family will still think you went to culinary school.  Brilliant.  If you are ready for a fast and easy way to make a lasagna tonight, then continue reading my friend. 

1 small zucchini
12 small baby carrots
1/2 of a bell pepper
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 bag baby spinach
1 tablespoon each, dried oregano and basil
36 ounces of your favorite tomato sauce (about 1 and 1/2 of the medium size jars/cans)
8-10 pieces of oven ready lasagna
1 lb ground beef (I used about 15, 1 oz meatballs. I know it's different, but it turned out great!)

For the cheese sauce:

1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded Parmesan
8 oz cottage cheese

Mix the cheese sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Brown the ground beef in a sauce pan (or follow instructions for cooing the meatballs).  Meanwhile, roughly dice the vegetables (except the spinach) and put them into a food processor and coarsely chop.  When the beef is done, add the vegetables (and herbs) with a little evoo and cook only until halfway tender.  Add the tomato sauce and bring to a simmer stirring occasionally.  Taste the sauce to make sure the flavor is on point, add S&P to taste. (I ended up putting in too much salt, but a pinch of sugar equalized the flavor). 

Cover the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with about 1/2 cup of the meat sauce. Add a layer of lasagna noodles, breaking a noodle down to size to cover the ends of the pan. Layer 1/2 of the meat sauce, 1/2 of the cheese sauce, then all the spinach.  Again, layer lasagna noodles, the remaining 1/2 of the meat sauce, then the remaining cheese sauce.

Cover dish tightly with foil sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Cook for 50-60 min or until noodles are tender. Let sit 10 min before digging into this pan of goodness.

TIPS:

{If you want to make a vegetable lasagna, just put down a layer of thinly sliced vegetables in lieu of the meat layer.}

Still don't want to be bothered with the layers? Then try my Sloppy Lasagna Recipe, here.