Submitted by Hillary Campbell
As they say, there’s no accounting for taste. But who are all of these “they” people anyway?
Even with the extensive preparation needed, my mother Gail used to make this dish once a month for the family. All the meat and cheese made it rather expensive for a family of five but we always devoured it with all the trimmings including tossed salad and garlic bread. It was one of her husband Ron’s favorite meals. One night Ron requested that Gail serve her lasagna dinner when his boss would be over. Yes, this was still back in the day when you had your boss over for dinner and used to get to know each other as real people.
Now I was only 8 years-old but I remember believing that maybe this was not all that great a choice; thinking you should serve something elegant like Roast Beef for your boss. But my father told me that lasagna was an elegant dish the way my mother prepared it and everyone always loved it.
Well, I guess I wasn’t part of that everyone because I never really liked it. My Mother once spent extra time while she made the dish showing me how to create the lasagna, and with each of the ingredients saying, “You like this don’t you?” My answer was always “yes”, since I did like every ingredient individually. But somehow I didn’t like them all put together.
The night of the big dinner I was amazed to see my father’s boss rave about the lasagna. He asked for seconds and being a bachelor, wanted to know if he could come back next time she made it.
I have used this recipe and my Mother’s teaching to make this dish for buffets and everybody raves about it, especially coworkers.
However, to this day, after I’ve prepared the main dish, with the leftovers I make a mini lasagna for my brother, Bruce. He can’t get enough of it. And in an odd twist to the ingredient mystery, he could never tolerate cottage cheese by itself because of the consistency. But cooked in the lasagna with the whole dish, he loves it. This just proves the old adage, “There’s no accounting for tastes.”
Gail Campbell’s Lasagna
Yields: 12 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Preheat oven to 350’
1 Pound Ground Beef
1 Large packet “Lawry’s” Spaghetti Sauce
1 (15 ounce) can Stewed Tomatoes, squashed
1 6 ounce can Tomato Paste
1 (15 ounce) can Tomato Sauce
1 Pound box Lasagna Noodles
1 Pound Monterey Jack Cheese (shredded)
1 Pound Sharp Cheddar Cheese (shredded)
1 Pound Cottage Cheese
1 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
Sauce Preparation:
1. Brown Ground Beef in a large saucepan. Drain off grease.
2. Add the Lawry’s seasoning, stewed tomatoes, tomato paste and the tomato sauce to the ground beef.
3. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Noodle Preparation:
4. While sauce is simmering, boil water in a 6-quart stockpot. Follow directions for cooking the Lasagna noodles on the pasta box.
5. When the pasta is cooked to the desired consistency, remove from heat, drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
Dish Preparation:
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Spread 1½ cup of sauce in the bottom of a 9” x 13” baking dish.
8. Place one layer of pasta lengthwise across the bottom of the dish, overlapping edges (use about 5 or 6 pasta strips).
9. Cover the pasta layer with 2 cups of sauce.
10. Drop about 1 Tablespoon dollops of cottage cheese intermittently on the sauce. Spread the cheese slightly using the back of your spoon.
11. Cover with half of the Monterey Jack cheese and half of the cheddar cheese.
12. Place another layer of pasta, sauce, cottage cheese and grated cheese, thus repeating the process.
13. Top with Parmesan cheese and bake for 30 minutes in a 350’ oven. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting.
