World's Best Lasagna

I used homemade marinara from garden tomatoes, but I will post the recipe as listed. I also only used sausage and no beef. For the ricotta, I used cottage cheese. Very delicious. Recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com and John Chandler. Serving size is estimated.

• Ready In: 1 hr 20 mins
• Serves: 12-16

Ingredients

• 1  lb  sweet Italian sausage
• 3⁄4 lb lean ground beef
• 1⁄2 cup  minced onion
• 2  garlic cloves, crushed
• 28  ounces crushed tomatoes
• 12  ounces tomato paste
• 13  ounces tomato sauce
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 2  tablespoons white sugar (I didnt add sugar)
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons dried basil leaves (I used fresh basil)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1  teaspoon  italian seasoning
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt (I omitted)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4  tablespoons  chopped fresh parsley
• 12  lasagna noodles
• 16  ounces ricotta cheese
• 1  egg
• 3⁄4 lb mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 3⁄4 cup  grated parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375.
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover with foil. *I just didn't add cheese on top until I pulled out of the oven so I skipped the foil until the end when I pulled it out of the oven.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 15 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.