Lasagna

Gather all your ingredients together (all will be cold or at room temp for easy handling)-

1box lasagna noodles - cooked until not quite done, then cover in cold water so they stop cooking and can be easily handled - a 16oz. box has 20 noodles

10cups (at least) homemade meat sauce - make several days earlier and have spaghetti that nite :)

  Tone's (from Sam's) makes for a nice sauce - we like to add an equal amount of spice & sugar substitute

1 block 8oz. softened cream cheese mixed with 2 eggs (this is in lieu of ricotta or cottage cheese)

  this makes a nice creamy lasagna and you won't notice it like you would ricotta or cottage cheese

Italian sausage browned - 2 links, approx. 1/2 lb.

2 lb. (or more) shredded mozzarella

 

Spread a light layer of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan and then start making layers.

Each layer consists of - 4 noodles, meat sauce, Italian sausage, 1/3 cream cheese mix, mozzarella cheese

A 'regular' pan holds 3 layers topped off with a final layer of noodles covered w/a bit of sauce&cheese

A 'deep' pan will hold 4 layers. 

At this point, bake to an internal temp off 165, cover with foil if the cheese is getting too brown. Let sit for a few minutes to make it easier to serve a pretty slice.

You could also put in fridge or freezer to bake later. If baking cold or frozen, add extra time and start the baking with the pan covered with foil. Remove after an hour.

Some people swear by ricotta or cottage cheese...IMO these stick out taste wise, while the cream cheese just makes a lovely creamy texture. I did read a post recently where the ricotta was mixed with sour cream to make it a bit creamier, sounded interesting.

This makes enough lasagna to feed 10-12. If you don't want to have too much leftover, make a couple smaller pans and cut noodles to fit. Cook both and freeze the extra in serving-size portions, or just freeze the extra pan. If you're going to the trouble to make one lasagna, it's not much harder to make an extra to throw in the freezer.