A cold rainy day deserves a blog post (Cream Cheese Lasagna)

This is an iPhone post.  I was dying without blogging, and it was so hard to go cold turkey, but I am sure that is because it was not by choice.  I was hanging at the house on a rainy Sunday and I craved some comfort food.  I had pinned Plain Chicken's Cream Cheese Lasagna many moons ago and I realized I had all of the ingredients to make it except a few so I either eliminated them, substituted them or accidentally forgot them.  In any event, deliciousness occurred.   

This is so decadent to me because lasagna is decadent to me.  I was cheating a lot on my little to no carb lifestyle so I was used to the occasional carb, but man this is a real treat!  The addition of the pepperoni is really different.  In fact if you left out the "white layer" this would be an excellent pizza casserole!

Make this, your people will love you and it!  Full recipe to follow the montage.

Who doesn't love lasagna!?

The cast.  I added spinach and decided to add the salami in after I chickened out at first.  I am so good at being good, it is hard for me to be bad!

Saute up the garlic and onions, what a pretty smell!

Add the meats.  I love the local fresh Italian sausage!

Once it is browned, pour out that fat!

Add your sauce.  I made a mistake by using what I used.  Bolognese is too sweet.

I had to add some spinach to make me feel a little healthier.

Mix up the cream and cottage and eggs

Add the spinach.  OOh that looks yummy!

Layer some sauce

Then the fabulous no bake noodles

Then add some cheese sauce.

I decided to go ahead and add the pepperoni.  I mean salami. And then I forgot a layer of cheese, gasp!

Repeat your layers and add the cheese this time!

Bake for 30 min covered.

After a ride under the broiler it just looks delicious!

Looking good!

Cream Cheese Lasagna (Adapted from Plain Chicken)

1/2 lb lean ground beef

1/2 lb ground Italian sausage
1 (26-oz) jar spaghetti sauce
1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1 bag baby spinach
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 (16-oz) package no boil lasagna noodles
1 (4-oz) package sliced pepperoni
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly spray a 9x13-inch pan. Set aside.  In a large skillet cook ground beef and sausage until no longer pink. Drain fat. Stir in spaghetti sauce and and cook on low for 10 minutes.  In a separate pan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and saute the spinach until wilted, about 7 minutes. Combine cream cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, and eggs and stir well.  Spoon a small amount of meat sauce into bottom of prepared pan. Layer with half lasagna noodles, half of cream cheese mixture, half of pepperoni, half of meat sauce and 2/3 cup of mozzarella cheese.  Repeat layers. Top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.  Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes,  until cheese has slightly browned (put it underneath the broiler if necessary). Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Happy Cooking!

Missy