Four Cheese Lasagna

I was thinking "oh it's raining today", maybe it's a good day for something hot and hearty for dinner. At first I thought "steak" but changed my mind. Lasagna sounds delicious right now; mainly because I haven't eaten breakfast yet and I have no coffee in the house. How horrible is that? Here's a yummy 4 cheese lasagna recipe and for my family and friends who are Vegetarians, leave out the beef. BTW, I don't use the fennel seed called for in this recipe. I don't know why, but it's one herb I don't care for. This recipe would be very easy to cut in 1/2; one to the freezer, one to the oven.

Four Cheese Lasagna 12 servings

1# ground beef 1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced 1 can (28 oz) tomatoes with liquid
1 can (8 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained 1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
1 t. salt 1 t. dried oregano
1 t. dried basil 1/2 t. pepper
1/2 t. fennel seed 1 carton (16 oz.) cottage cheese
2/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 1/2 c. (6 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided 2 eggs
1 # lasagna noodles, cooked and drained

1. In a skillet, cook beef, onion and garlic until beef is browned and onion is tender; drain.

2. In a blender, process tomatoes until smooth. Stir into beef mixture along with mushrooms, tomato paste and seasonings; simmer 15 minutes.

3. In a bowl, combine cottage cheese, Parmesan, Monterey Jack and 1/2 of the mozzarella and the eggs.

4. Spread 2 c. of the meat sauce in the bottom of an ungreased 13 x 9" baking dish. Arrange half the noodles over the sauce. Spread cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Top with remaining noodles and meat sauce.

5. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Return to over for 15 minutes, uncovered, or until cheese melts.