Summer Vegetable and Meat Lasagna

This is my husband's favorite, and it's a great way to use up those zucchini and summer squash from your garden.

1 pkg. no-boil lasagna noodles
1 carton cottage cheese (or ricotta)
1 or 2 eggs, beaten
1 lb grated mozzarella cheese (you may add more cheese if you wish)
28 oz canned crushed tomatoes (whole are okay, or you can use canned sauce)
1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. oregano
1 Tbsp. basil
1 or 2 zucchini
1 or 2 summer squash
You may also add spinach, mushrooms, or anything else that might be good in there- if you do use other vegetables as well, try only using 1 zucchini and 1 summer squash so that your lasagna isn't overflowing with layers.

In a large saucepan, cook the ground beef and onion together, adding the garlic at the end. Drain fat and add canned tomatoes (if using whole tomatoes, crush them with a spoon in the saucepan- or you can blend them in the blender first). Bring the sauce to a boil and let the water evaporate off for about 20 minutes or until it is a good consistency. Add oregano and basil to the sauce.
In a separate bowl, grate 12oz of the mozzarella (reserve the last 4 oz), add the egg and cottage cheese and mix well.
Slice zucchini lengthwise, and slice the squash into circles.

Start layering your lasagna by first spooning the red sauce on the bottom. Next do a layer of noodles, breaking them to fit if necessary. Next do a layer of the white sauce, then a layer of one of the vegetables (I usually only do one veggie per layer so that they aren't mixed up). Repeat layers until you are out of stuff.

You red sauce is probably dripping all over and seeping into all the layers. If not, or if you used canned sauce, you probably need to add about 1/4 cup water to the edges of the casserole so that the noodles have something to absorb.

Cook in 350 oven for about 1 hour so that the veggies can get nice and soft. Mmmm. For the last 20 minutes of cooking, top the lasagna with the reserved cheese.

This bread is a great compliment to this dish.

My one-year-old LOVES this dish!