Shortcut Block Party Lasagna

This post is dedicated to Mr. Hoing, a former neighbor and teacher, for always pestering me about making lasagna for the neighborhood block party.  We were talking about those parties this morning at breakfast and dad commented they were a lot of fun.  Sure, because he didn't have to do extra spelling words for Mrs. Hoing like Jeff, Linda, and I did!  So to a-c-c-o-m-m-o-d-a-t-e Mr. Hoing's love of lasagna, here is a shortcut version.  It started with Mrs. Mellette's home ec recipe and has been refined over the years.  This version is a shortcut since we don't have access to all the herbs and things that go into the full version I usually make. Know what?  I'm not going to mess with all that again.  This was just as good!

Nice and brown on top!

Shortcut Block Party Lasagna
1 1/2 pounds bulk mild or sweet Italian sausage, browned
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 three ounce can tomato paste
1 twenty-four ounce can Hunts Garlic & Herb tomato sauce
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup garlic powder
1 ten ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 cups small curd cottage cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 package no-boil lasagna noodles (no pre-cooking so Greg couldn't snitch them)

Combine sausage, onion, carrots, tomato paste, and tomato sauce in skillet.  Rinse paste can and add that water to the skillet.  Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 30 minutes.

In a bowl, combine egg, cottage cheese, Parmesan, and spinach.  Mix thoroughly.

Lightly spray a 9"x13" deep foil pan with non-stick spray.  Spread about 1/2 cup of the meat sauce in bottom.  Lay 4 noodles, overlapping edges, the length of pan.  Cover with half the meat sauce, half the cottage cheese mixture, and two cups of mozzarella.  Repeat layers.  Top with noodles, and scrape the last of the liquid from the skillet on top.  Cover with remaining two cups of cheese.

Spray a piece of aluminum foil with non-stick spray and cover pan.  Set pan on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.  Remove foil, and let sit for 5 minutes.  Cut into desired sized pieces.   Devour with much gusto!

The perfect piece of lasagna!  Look at that cheese . . .

By not cooking the noodles in advance, they absorb the excess liquid from

the lasagna, which makes them taste better and no messy liquid all over the pan.