Grandmother Wilkinsons' Famous Lasagna

Grandmother Wilkinson is a fabulous cook, and we have had wonderful years of learning from her. She always believed in preserving your garden tomatoes, so you can make wonderful tomato juice to use in various recipes. This is Grandmother Wilkinson's famous recipe made with her homemade tomato juice. We have taken this recipe, and added our own seasonings to make it more flavorful. We have also found a few secrets in making this recipe even more perfect!

Homemade Tomato Juice-

~ Take your favorite tomatoes wash them, and discard the stems
~ make an x in the bottom of the tomato with a paring knife
~ bring a pan of water to a boil
~ blanch tomatoes for 30-40 seconds
~ immediately put in a water bath of ice to cool
~ remove tomato
~ quarter the tomatoes, and spoon out the seeds (preserve the juice)
~ put the tomatoes and preserved juice in a pot
~ add 1/2 cup lemon juice for every 7 quarts of tomato juice
~simmer on low 3-4 hours until tomato juice has been reduced down
~ mash tomatoes to a puree
~ put in freezer-safe containers
~ good for 6-7 months

Lasagna Recipe-

 Ingredients:
~ 1 lb. ground beef
~ 1 clove garlic minced
~ 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
~ 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
~ 1 teaspoon salt
~ 1 tablespoon italian seasoning
~ 2 cups fresh tomato juice
~ 1- 6 oz. can tomato paste
~ 1 teaspoon onion onion salt
~ 1 teaspoon pepper


~ 12 oz. lasagna noodles
~ 1 lb. shredded mozzarella cheese or sliced thin
~ 3 cups small curd cottage cheese
~ 2 beaten eggs
~ 1 teaspoon salt
~ 2 tablespoons parsley flakes
~ 1/2 cup parmesan grated cheese

Directions:
~ brown the ground beef slowly
~ spoon off excess fat
~ add garlic, parsley flakes, oregano, salt, tomato juice,onion salt, pepper and tomato paste
~ simmer slowly uncovered until sauce is thick
~ stir occasionally
~ cook noodles in boiling salted water until tender
~ remove from water and rinse with cold water
~ combine cottage cheese, eggs, salt, parsley flakes, and parmesan cheese
~ In a 13x9x12 in. pan place half the noodles in the bottom of the pan with 2 layers of noodles, and sealing the seams
~ put half of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles
~ layer half the mozzarella cheese, and half of the meat sauce
~ repeat process (make sure you double the layers of noodles each time)
~ Bake in 375 F oven for 30 min.
~ let stand for 15 min. before cutting in squares
~ makes 12 servings