Lasagna {recipe}

I found a recipe for American Lasagna on allrecipes.com that looked tasty... But I wanted to add spinach to it and also didn't want to pre-cook the lasagna noodles. So I adjusted the recipe and crossed my fingers that it turned out.

And guess what?!?!  EVERY one of us loved it.  Here's what I did:

Lasagna
1-1/2 pounds of ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
3 (14 oz) cans of diced tomatoes
2 (6 oz) cans of tomato paste
12 dry lasagna noodles
2 eggs, beaten
1 pint ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups water
1/2 pkg frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated


Brown beef, onion and garlic; drain fat.
Mix in basil, oregano, brown sugar, 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Simmer 15-20 minutes. Stir in spinach and water (this will thin the sauce out a bunch but will help with cooking the noodles in the oven).

In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, parsley and 1 teaspoon salt.

In a 9 x 13 pan layer 1/3 of the dry noodles, then 1/2 of the ricotta mixture, 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese followed by 1/3 of the sauce.  Repeat. Top with the remaining noodles and sauce.  Sprinkle the additional Parmesan cheese on top.

Cover with aluminum foil (that is sprayed with baking spray) and bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes. Removing the foil for the last 5 minutes of baking to brown the top.

Serve with a yummy salad and garlic bread!