No Boil Lasagna

Preheat oven to 375-degrees.

PREPARE MEAT MIXTURE: In a large skillet, over medium-high heat on the stove top, add the ground meat. Stir and break the ground meat into pieces, as the meat browns. Add two teaspoons of Italian seasoning blend, salt, seasoning salt (I use a garlic seasoning salt), sage and thyme to the pan with the meat. Once the meat has browned (it's okay if it isn't cooked all the way through), drain all of the oil from the pan. Leave the browned meat in the pan and return the pan to the stove.

MARINARA: On medium-high heat, add the entire jar of marinara sauce, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, salt, Italian seasoning, sage and thyme to the pan with the browned ground meat. Stir the ingredients until incorporated. Cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, just until the marinara-meat sauce comes to a simmer. Remove pan from the stove.

LAYER THE LASAGNA: In a 9x13-inch baking pan, add a thin layer of the marinara-meat sauce to the bottom of the dish, covering it. Layer uncooked (dry) lasagna noodles over the sauce. Use a spoon to generously cover the dry lasagna noodles with a layer of cottage cheese or ricotta cheese. Sprinkle a layer of mozzarella cheese over the noodles. Repeat process, adding a second layer: sauce, dry noodles, cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese. Add the rest of the marinara sauce to cover the second layer. Sprinkle the top with additional mozzarella cheese.

BAKE: Cover the lasagna with foil and bake in 375-degree oven for 50-55 minutes. Lasagna is done when the noodles are al dente. Remove baked lasagna from the oven and let the lasagna sit, covered with the foil, on the counter for 10 minutes before slicing into desired sized slices.

Leftover lasagna can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container once the lasagna is cool enough to store.