THE Lasagna

This Lasagna absolutely blew us away. It was (twice) the best lasagna I have ever tasted, hands down. A friend sent me this crazy amazing recipe from Mouthwatering Motivations and that blogger credits Kyndra Holley over at Peace, Love and Low Carb with the original inspiration. Go check out their blogs for awesome tips and other tasty recipes! 

Though those ladies have both laid out wonderful versions of this (comparatively) low carb masterpiece already, I will go ahead and copy out the recipe here as well since this blog is first and foremost a recipe collection for my family and friends and I have tweaked a few tiny things to our preferences. 

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Makes 5 Servings: 7. 5 Carbs and 1000 Calories each 

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INGREDIENTS: 

Noodles:

• • 2 eggs 
  • 4 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated 
  • 1 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (130g)
  • Pinch of each: Marjoram, thyme, rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp basil
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Filling:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 1/2 cups of lower-carb pasta sauce (I used “Classico Tomato Basil”)
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 6 tbsp cottage cheese
• 1/3 chopped onion
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 1/2 tsp chili pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• Pinch of each: Marjoram, thyme, rosemary
• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375° Line a 9×13 baking dish with tinfoil sprayed with oil
2. Cream together cream cheese and eggs (I used my Kitchen Aid but this could be easily done with a hand mixer!)
3. Next, add Parmesan cheese and spices. Mix to combine.
4. Fold in Mozzarella cheese and mix until well incorporated.
5. Spread the mixture into the baking dish, forming an even layer. 
6. Bake for 20 minutes.
7. When the “noodles” are done baking, cool in the fridge for a minimum of 20 minutes and then cut into thirds. This makes three perfectly sized “noodle” layers for an 8.5 X 4.5 X 2.5 loaf pan.

For The Filling

1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, combine ground beef, onion, garlic  and spices. Cook until the meat is browned.
2. Drain excess fat from pan and add ¾ cup of your sauce to meat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.

Putting It All Together

1. Pour ¼ cup marinara sauce into bottom of loaf pan. Top with the first “noodle” layer
2. Layer a third of the ground beef mixture. Top with 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 3 tbsp cottage cheese, and cover with another “noodle” layer. Repeat these steps.
3. Cover the top “noodle” layer with remaining ground beef, and about 1 cup of Mozzarella cheese.
4. Sprinkle basil over the top and bake for 20 minutes. 

Bon Appétit!