Low Fat Lasagna Favorite

Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 lb 93% lean ground beef, 7% fat
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (16 ounce) can italian-style peeled tomatoes
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 10 ounces lasagna noodles
• 16 ounces fat-free ricotta cheese or 16 ounces cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
• 2 egg whites
• 8 ounces lowfat mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 4 ounces parmesan cheese, grated

Recipe

• 1 cook the onions, garlic, bell pepperr, and mushrooms until tender in a small amount of water or both. add the ground meat, salt, and pepper. cook until meat loses its red color. drain off any excess fat.
• 2 add the tomato sauce, canned peeled tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, and basil. simmer about 1 - 1.5 hours or until sauce has thickened. if sauce becomes too thick while cooking, add water as needed.
• 3 in a large pot, bring 8 quarts of water to a full boil. you do not need to add oil to the boiling water to prevent pasta from sticking together. add noodles one at a time too boiling water. stir the noodles occassionally while they cook to prevent sticking. cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until al dente (still a bit chewy). drain, rinse with cold water and separate noodles.
• 4 combine ricotta cheese, egg whites, parsley, and half of the parmesan cheese in a separate bowl.
• 5 preheat oven to 350 degrees. coat a 13 x 9 x 2 1/2 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. spoon in a thin layer of sauce and cover with a layer of lasagna noodles. next, place a layer of shredded mozzarella and ricotta-parmesan cheese mixture. add some sauce. arrange successive layers in a likewise manner, ending with a layer of noodles. top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese.
• 6 bake about 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese has melted. remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.