Garfield’s Birthday Dinner

This is Garfield. At least that’s what we call him sometimes. See, we’ve seen the movie with Jennifer Love Hewitt a zillion times, it feels like, and have a clear understanding of how much Garfield loves the lasagna.
When quizzing our son what he would like for his birthday dinner, of course he wanted this. ( To be perfectly honest, he initially said McDonalds because he wanted to collect more of the happy meal toys.) In lieu of his favorite toy plus a burger on the side, this is his favorite meal. And he has been known to gobble it up just like Garfield.
I love making my own, even though it takes a little work. The sauce flavor is wonderful and it doesn’t have sausage, like some prepared frozen lasagnas do. And it’s not overly saucy. I based this recipe on one I found in my recipes from food labels book (see posting on May 3rd) but have tinkered around a bit with it. I added more garlic, reduced salt, and switched to using shredded mozzarella. The casserole is wonderful if you can assemble it the morning or night before and then bake it for dinner. I also use cottage cheese instead of ricotta, because as mentioned in my very first post ever, my husband doesn’t have an affinity to ricotta. It’s still great!
Lisa’s Lasagna
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 6-0z can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp ground pepper
8 oz lasagna noodles, cooked, drained
1 lb ricotta or cottage cheese
1 lb mozzarella cheese (12 ounces will do)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Brown meat, drain. Add onion, cook until tender. Stir in tomato paste, water and seasonings. Cover, simmer for 30 minutes. In a 9x13 pan, layer 1/3 of noodles, 1/3 of sauce, 1/2 of ricotta cheese, 1/3 of mozzarella. Repeat. Top remaining noodles with sauce, parmesan cheese and remaining mozzarella. Tastes best if covered and stored in fridge overnight or for a few hours. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 6-8 servings.

We had an ice cream cake for our little family party.