phyllis's lasagna

      I grew up with this in my parents house being known as lasagna. My Mom made this and I always loved it. I don't know if it was the pan she cooked it on or her magical oven that gave it such flavor but, I can never recreate the taste!  A savory blend of meats and cheeses are encased in wonderful fluffy crescent dough.  I would guess that she ran across this recipe way back when and got it from one of her many cookbooks or the newspaper.  All the same, it was my personal favorite and I requested it when asked what I'd want for my "birthday dinner."  I'm sure this recipe can be modified all the way around to suite your own tastes!  like using ground turkey with low-fat cheese and adding other cooked vegetables or a chicken divan type creation.  Have fun, create your own - enjoy! Diane 

Phyllis's Lasagna

Ingredients:
Meat Filling: 
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 small can tomato paste
1 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper

Cheese Filling: 
1 pack (2cups) of mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup cream style cottage cheese or 1 cup ricotta *your choice
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
2 tubes of crescent rolls

Meat Mixture: 
Brown meat, drain off fat. add chopped onion, stir until tender.
add all herbs & spices listed under Meat Filling. Stir in tomato paste.
let everything cook for 20 mins uncovered. While that is cooking, place first tube of crescent rolls on cookie sheet (as for pie crust, pinch seems together) 

Cheese Mixture:
Beat egg, add to cottage cheese & parmesan cheese.

Place first roll of dough down on a large baking sheet - add meat mixture in the middle.  Alternate meat mixture and cottage (or ricotta) cheese mixture. Then sprinkle mozzarella cheese. 
Once all the filling is down, place the second roll of dough down over the filling and pinch any holes in seams and pull up sides of crescent roll dough to form one large bread loaf. 

Bake at 325 for 45 mins to an Hour (check to make sure it doesn't get too brown) 

serves: 4-6
Recipe Adapted by: Phyllis C 
Photo by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home