Ingredients
* 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
(used mild instead)
* 3/4 pound lean ground beef
(more like 1.5 lb)
* 1/2 cup minced onion
(chopped in strips because I'm lazy)
* 2 cloves garlic, crushed
(3 minced)
* 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
(2 cans)
* 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
(oops....forgot)
* 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
(used 1 can)
* 1/2 cup water
(omitted - why water and tomato paste? weird)
* 2 tablespoons white sugar
(omitted - enough sugar in canned sauce already)
* 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
(used fresh instead - about 1 loose cup)
* 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
(omitted - gross)
* 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
(used a bunch of thyme and oregano instead)
* 1 tablespoon salt
(omitted - enough in canned sauce)
* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
(omitted - meh)
* 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
(used dried instead because I'm cheap)
* 12 lasagna noodles
* 16 ounces ricotta cheese
(used cottage cheese because the damn store was out of ricotta....grrr)
* 1 egg
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
(still not adding more salt 
)
* 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
(used grated marble since I had that, not sure how much but surely not 3/4 lb!)
* 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Added: cinnamon and 1 can of mushrooms to sauce, some bite-size spinach to cheese (about 2 cups)
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, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
(I only simmered while I made the cheese mixture - about 30 min)
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.
(Instead of boiling I put noodles in a dish of hot water for about 10 min) In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of 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 mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
Baked for about 35 mins with foil since I didn't boil the noodles. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.
only cooled for about 5 mins since I'm impatient
