Cabinkat's Cream Cheese & Pepperoni Lasagna

CabinKat's Note:

This is by far my families favorite lasagna recipe. I have been making it for over 15 years. It may seem complicated, but it's really not. You can use low fat ingredients in this recipe without losing flavor. I don't recommend non-fat and I don't recommend turkey pepperoni. I also use oven ready lasagna noodles.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 50 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 6

Yield: 1.0 Pan

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup onion , chopped
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1 (2 teaspoon) package beef bouillon granules
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese , softened (can use 1/3 less fat)
• 1 cup cottage cheese , small curd (can use low fat)
• ¼ cup sour cream (can use less fat)
• 2 eggs , beaten
• 16 ounces lasagna noodles , uncooked
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese , shredded
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup pepperoni slice
• 6 bell pepper rings , your color choice

Directions:

1. In heavy skillet, add oil. Heat to med.-high, when hot add onions. Saute until golden, stirring occasionally. Add beef. When fully cooked, drain (if needed) and then add the next 7 ingredients. Do not add any cheeses.
2. In separate bowl, add cream cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, 1 cup mozzarella, & eggs. Mix well, set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350º degrees.
4. In 12 X 8 X 2 pan add a small amount of sauce to coat bottom lightly.
5. Cover with one layer of lasagna noodles, then add layer of cheese mixture, enough to lightly cover noodles, then meat mixture, then pepperoni.
6. Repeat until all ingredients are used up. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella on top. You may not need to use all noodles however. Do not add peppers.
7. Cover and bake 1 hour. Bring out, carefully remove cover and add bell peppers.
8. Cover back up and bake an additional 15 minutes.
9. When done, bring out of oven, keep covered, and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Very important to let sit, covered.
10. When time is up, cut and serve.
11. Best with French bread or Artisan bread.

Reviews

[Chef #682219]

this was excellent! the cream cheese made the cheese layer creamy and smooth. I doubled the recipe and used a 9x13 pan. I barely used 1/2 a box of noodles. It doesn't mention what to do with the mozzarella - I just layered it on top. I used LF cottage cheese, cream cheese and sour cream. It tasted wonderful! We will have this again.