An American-Italian dish gets creamy from an unlikely source with this Cottage Cheese Lasagna—beef, sausage, tomato sauce, and veggies welcome curds for a protein-packed pasta plate.
Once I discovered cottage cheese at college, no other snack stood a chance. My roommate would buy the stuff by the barrel and add it to fruit, her cereal… sometimes she would sprinkle some nuts atop a bowl of it along with some cinnamon and eat it like others do ice cream. Full disclosure: she was a vegetarian, and probably relied on the cottage cheese to curb other, sugar-laden cravings and provide her with the protein she perhaps wasn’t getting through the rest of her restricted diet.
Her eating habits clearly had an impact on me. One day there was a blizzard and I didn’t have the energy to walk over to the cafeteria for lunch, so I snuck into her cottage cheese storage and had a very small bowl. That’s when things changed. I was a convert. Since then, I’ve used cottage cheese not just as a snack but as an ingredient for dinners. One of those dinners is this lasagna.
As I am not a vegetarian, I have no problem adding the cottage cheese to sausage and ground beef. It packs in the protein and provides the lasagna with even more creaminess. It also has a neutral taste, so it won’t interfere with the spices I’ve also added. If you have always demurred at cottage cheese because you dislike its texture, this might be the gateway meal you need!
How do I make a ‘lighter’ version?
Most lasagnas are hefty propositions. They pack in so many ingredients that I can understand the allure of making a ‘light’ version. A ‘skinny’ lasagna, if you will! For this, you’ll need to remove some ingredients entirely and replace others with lower-fat siblings. Let’s start with the meat. There is ground beef AND sausage. Given there is already protein the form of cottage cheese in this lasagna, feel free to drop one. Speaking of the cottage cheese, I have requested creamed cottage cheese, which contains 4% M.F., but any cottage cheese will suffice. Same goes for the other cheeses; a lower-fat cheese will work, too. Obviously, you will lose that texture but you may feel it’s worth it. You can also drop the sugar if you want to cut back on calories. Last, replace the noodles with whole wheat versions; this won’t ‘lighten’ the lasagna load but it will make it healthier.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 8 oz. hot Italian sausage (casings removed)
- 2 large onions finely chopped
- 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 3 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (14.5 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 6 oz. Parmesan cheese, finely grated (about 3 cups)
- 12 oz. Fontina cheese, grated (about 3 cups)
- 2 large eggs
- 24 oz. creamed cottage cheese
- 12 no-boil lasagna noodles
How to Make Cottage-Cheese Lasagna
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F, brown the beef and sausage in olive oil over medium-high heat for 10-12 minutes, transfer to a bowl but leave fat in the pot.
Step 2: Sauté the onions, 6 chopped garlics and 1 tsp salt in the pot adding more oil if dry, till onions soften (8 minutes). Stir in the tomato paste and oregano till it darkens (around 6 minutes), return meat to pot.
Step 3: Add crushed tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, and 1 tsp pepper to pot and simmer. Once heated through, remove from the heat and mix in 2 ounces of grated Parmesan. Season with salt.
Step 4: Toss the Fontina and remaining Parmesan in a bowl, reserve 1 cup for topping. Add eggs, cottage cheese, remaining garlic, salt and pepper to the rest and combine.
Step 5: In a 13×9-inch baking dish, lay down a layer of lasagna noodles. Spread about 1 1/2 cups of the meat sauce over the noodles. Dot with a third of the cheese mixture. Repeat layering, ending with a final layer of noodles topped with the remaining sauce.
Step 6: Top with reserved cheese and bake until golden brown and bubbly for 75-85 minutes, checking noodle tenderness with a skewer.
Step 7: Allow the lasagna to rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.
FAQs & Tips
You can make this lasagna up to 3 days before you plan on baking it. Just cover it with aluminum foil and keep in the fridge. When it comes time to bake, let the chilled lasagna sit at room temperature for an hour. As for leftovers, let them cool completely then store them in an airtight container. They should keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also freeze your lasagna, both pre-cooked and leftovers. I recommend covering it with both plastic and aluminum to prevent freezer burn. It should last in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, let it thaw in the fridge overnight.
Of course. Using regular lasagna noodles also works, it just requires the added step of having to boil them to soften them up.
I prefer to think of that grease as meat juice! No matter what you call it, that liquid contains lots of flavor and for this reason, I keep it intact and add the vegetables to it. If you’d rather get rid of it and replace it with olive oil, be my guest.
Fontina is a semi-soft Italian cheese made from cow’s milk. If you can’t find it, you can use any number of cheeses in its place. Gruyere, Emmental, or provolone will all fill in nicely, though I would lean towards the latter. It is an Italian cheese, which feels appropriate for a lasagna recipe.
For the most part, it comes down to taste, though there are ‘scientific’ reasons for the addition. Tomatoes are naturally acidic. They can also taste rather bitter. Sugar counters both elements and makes the sauce more palatable. It also caramelizes while in the sauce and contributes to a more complex flavor profile. Of course, if calories are a concern, omitting the sugar is an easy way to lower the number.
Serving Suggestions
As with all lasagnas, you really need to complete the Italian feast with crusty bread. I mean, all that tomato sauce isn’t going to soak up itself! For a more rounded dinner, serve a tossed salad or Caesar salad along with the lasagna. Grilled veggies would also work well. For dessert, instead of reaching for an espresso, why not scoop up some No-Churn Coffee Ice Cream?
Cottage Cheese Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil plus more if needed
- 1 lb. ground beef preferably 20% fat
- 8 oz. hot Italian sausage casings removed
- 2 large onions finely chopped
- 8 garlic cloves finely chopped, divided
- 3 tsp kosher salt divided, plus more to taste
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (14.5 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper divided, plus more to taste
- 6 oz. Parmesan cheese finely grated (about 3 cups), divided
- 12 oz. Fontina cheese grated (about 3 cups)
- 2 large eggs
- 24 oz. whole-milk cottage cheese
- 12 no-boil lasagna noodles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F, brown the beef and sausage in olive oil over medium-high heat for 10-12 minutes, transfer to a bowl but leave fat in the pot.
- Sauté the onions, 6 chopped garlics and 1 tsp salt in the pot adding more oil if dry, till onions soften (8 minutes). Stir in the tomato paste and oregano till it darkens (around 6 minutes), return meat to pot.
- Add crushed tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, and 1 tsp pepper to pot and simmer. Once heated through, remove from the heat and mix in 2 ounces of grated Parmesan. Season with salt.
- Toss the Fontina and remaining Parmesan in a bowl, reserve 1 cup for topping. Add eggs, cottage cheese, remaining garlic, salt and pepper to the rest and combine.
- In a 13×9-inch baking dish, lay down a layer of lasagna noodles. Spread about 1 1/2 cups of the meat sauce over the noodles. Dot with a third of the cheese mixture. Repeat layering, ending with a final layer of noodles topped with the remaining sauce.
- Top with reserved cheese and bake until golden brown and bubbly for 75-85 minutes, checking noodle tenderness with a skewer.
- Allow the lasagna to rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.
