As Promised: White Lasagna

So those of you who follow me on Twitter are most likely expecting the recipe for my White Lasagna. I made this recipe up one day out of boredom and it is now one of my family's favorite meals. It's great on its own or with a light tomato basil sauce over it. Couple this with a salad and a glass of sweet red wine (OK, I'll freely admit it, I'm a sweet red wine snob and think it goes well with almost everything, but in this case it really does pair well with the white cheeses).

White Lasagna:

Put your noodles to cook according to package directions. This is not a candidate for the "no boil" noodles as there is not much liquid in the recipe. Besides, I've never had good results with the "oven ready" noodles. While that is happening, go ahead and finish loading up the dishwasher and wipe down your counters. When you put the noodles in the boiling water you will have plenty of time to mix up the filling.

The filling: Mix one 16oz container of low fat cottage cheese (you can use the full fat if you like, but this recipe is so cheese heavy that you may want to pare it down a bit, but don't go for the fat free stuff. Seriously, it's not real cheese if it doesn't have at least some fat in it. Might as well go chew Silly Putty or packing peanuts.) with one 8oz part skim ricotta, one egg, 3-4 cloves of garlic (if you have time, roast some - it's better that way, but it's not bad raw), 1/4 c. fresh Parmesan cheese (go ahead and use the powdered stuff if you have to, but the real Parm is worth every little penny. Trust me, once you have had real Parmesan cheese, even if it isn't Parmigiano Reggiano, you will never go back to the powder), 1 small can of chopped ripe black olives. Mix that all together.

When your noodles are done and cool enough to handle (I usually run cold water over mine until I can pick them up and not scream in pain) make a layer of noodles in your baker, then a layer of filling, then a layer of noodles, then a layer of filling, then a layer of noodles, then a layer of Mozzarella cheese (ha! I bet you thought I was going to say filling), then a layer of noodles, then a layer of filling, then a layer of noodles, then a layer of filling. Then if you have enough noodles another layer of noodles and top the whole thing with a generous portion of Mozz.

Put it in the oven for about forty-five minutes at 400°F while you sit and watch that episode of NCIS that you recorded last week and skip through all the commercials. Your timing should just about match up. Or you can knit a few rows of that Baby Surprise Jacket you have on the needles. Or catch up on your e-mail. All three will take about forty-five minutes each.

Eat and enjoy. I hope you like it and if you happen to make it, let me know. It isn't cheap, but it is easy and my family loves it. (Don't forget the sweet red wine.)