meat lovers lasagne

* adapted from my mom's recipe

ingredients:

1 pound extra lean ground beef
2 beef sausages, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium-sized onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 large button mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 medium-sized zucchini, sliced into 1/4" rounds
1 small head broccoli, florets divided up into very small pieces
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
6 - 8 medium-sized tomatoes, diced
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 bay leaf
1/2 can tomato paste
1/2 cup white or red wine
1 250 g container ricotta
1 250 g container cottage cheese
100 g shredded parmesan
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, minced
600 g package mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly
home made noodles (left in full sheets, not cut into linguine)

directions:
1. Brown ground beef and sausages in pan. Set aside. Heat oil in heavy-bottomed sauce pan and saute onion, garlic and mushrooms until onion is translucent and mushrooms are browned. Add zucchini, broccoli and peppers and saute for a few more minutes. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste and other spices. Add tomato paste, wine, bay leaf and browned ground beef and sausages. Continue to simmer over low heat until vegetables are very tender.

2. Put pot of salted water on to boil. When boiled, drop each large, flat noodle into water and cook for about 2 minutes. Remove, rinse with cool water and set aside.

3. Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix ricotta, cottage cheese, parmesan and egg together in large bowl. Add salt, pepper and fresh parsley.

4. Layer lasagne in pan: one layer of sauce, one layer of ricotta mix, one layer of mozzarella, one layer of pasta. Repeat: sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, pasta. One more of: sauce and mozzarella. TOTAL: three layers of sauce, three of mozzarella, two of ricotta and two of pasta.

5. Cover with foil and bake in oven for about 30 minutes. Remove foil and cook until sauce is bubbling and cheese is starting to brown on top. Remove from oven and allow to sit for five minutes. Serve.

notes: