Cream Cheese Lasagna

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♼ Recipe origin is unknown. Cream cheese lasagna recipe, recipe Rating: 4.6
Number of votes:93

This is a recipe that I developed to combat the ‘spaghetti sauce’ lasagnas that have polluted the recipe world. This is a versatile recipe that allows for some ingredients to be omitted. Omit meat to turn this dish into a vegetarian delight. An additional baking dish may be needed. I usually need to split this recipe to accommodate the vegetarian in my life (I prefer to be the carnivore). This dish can be made ahead of time and set in the refrigerator or frozen to be baked later.

Ready in: 2 hours 15 mins

Ingredients

Serves: 12

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound Italian sausage
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed or diced tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons basil
• 1 teaspoons rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1/2 teaspoon marjoram
• 12 dry lasagna noodles
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 16 ounces cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley
• 1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation method

Prep: 1 hour | Cook: 1 hour | Extra time: 15 mins

1. In skillet, cook beef, sausage, onion and garlic over medium heat. Drain. Add crushed or diced tomatoes, sugar, tomato sauce, basil, rosemary, pepper, fennel and marjoram. Simmer for 30-45 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring 4 quarts of water to rolling boil. Boil lasagna noodles until al dente. Blot noodles dry with towel.

3. In large mixing bowl, mix ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, cream cheese, eggs, salt and parsley together until creamy.

4. Cover bottom of 13×9 baking dish with a thin layer of tomato mixture to prevent sticking. Layer 1/3 of cooked noodles followed by 1/2 of cheese mixture. Cover with 1/3 of beef mixture follwed by 1/2 of remaining mozzarella. Repeat. Finish layering with remaining noodles followed by remaining beef mixture. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.

5. Bake in the preheated oven until all cheeses have melted throughout the lasagna, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.Cook’s Notes:

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste can be substituted for tomato sauce.
You can use white or brown sugar for this recipe.
Crushed red pepper can be substituted for ground black pepper.
Cottage cheese can be substituted for ricotta cheese.