My favorite dish ever!

I wrote earlier about my Grandpa's Famous Lasagna. I decided to post the recipe because it is so easy and inexpensive. I did a little digging and I found out that my Great Grandmother came up with this simple and unorthodox recipe when she was a housewife struggling to feed a lot of mouths on a very small budget. So I guess it should be called Great Grandma's Famous Lasagna... but that is just too long. I say that this recipe is unorthodox mainly because it doesn't use ricotta cheese and has a few other surprising substitutes.

You Need:

1 to 2 lbs hamburger meat (depends on how meaty you want it to be. I use 2)
1 to 2 Spaghetti Sauce dried seasoning packets (again depends on how much meat you used)
8oz tub sour cream
8oz tub small curd cottage cheese
approx. 12 lasagna noodles (that is what it takes me with a traditional lasagna pan)
1- 28oz can diced tomatoes
1- 6oz can tomato paste (if you like you can buy the tomato paste in the tube. I prefer it because you only squeeze out what you need and the rest stays fresh)
1-8oz-ish bag shredded mozzarella or fresh (I hate grating cheese)
1-80z-ish bag shredded cheddar

Here is where you can play around with it. Add frozen spinach (well drained), shredded zucchini. Let your imagination go wild!

Brown hamburger in a large skillet. Drain and add seasoning packet(s) and diced tomatoes with juice. Stir. This is where the tomato paste comes in. I add a heaping tablespoon if my sauce seems a little runny. You want it to be thicker than spaghetti sauce. Once sauce is well combined set aside.

In a large deep pot cook lasagna noodles for about 8 minutes. You want them flexible but not done.

While pasta is cooking combine sour cream and cottage cheese in a medium bowl. (You could use ricotta cheese if you like) This is also where you would add the spinach if you chose to put that in as well.

When all ingredients are ready it is time to assemble.

Smear a small amount of your meat sauce on the bottom of the pan. Be careful not to use too much. You just want to create a barrier between the bottom of the pan and the noodles.
Next place one layer of noodles making sure to cover the pan completely. Then a layer of cottage cheese mixture followed by the meat sauce. Top with as much or as little cheese as you like. I probably go a little overboard on the cheese but I like it that way. Make sure all you layers go all the way to the edges of the pan. Repeat: noodles, soft cheese, meat sauce, and finally completely cover the top with cheese. I use a 2 to 1 ratio of motts to cheddar. It makes it nice and gooey.

Now all that is left is to heat it through. Place lasagna in 375 preheated oven. After 10 minutes check for bubbling around the edges. If you don't see a steady bubble check again in 5 minutes. When the sauce is bubbling evenly around the edges and the cheese is starting to brown you are done!

Take it out and let it cool for 20 minutes. This helps everything set up so when you cut into it all the sauce stays put rater than sliding out.

I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as I do!