Beef Lasagna

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 pounds lean ground beef or ground turkey 1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 (14-ounce) can tomato sauce
4 cups ricotta cheese (regular or part-skim) 8 ounces grated mozzarella cheese (regular or part-skim), divided
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Romano

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
For the Lasagna Filling:

Heat the oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute 3 minutes, until soft. Add, beef and cook 5 to 7 minutes, until browned all over, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Stir in basil, oregano and red pepper flakes.

Add diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 to 15 min¬utes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine ricotta, half of the mozzarella, egg, and black pepper. Mix well.
Pour 1 cup of the meat sauce in the bottom ofa 13 by 9-inch lasagna pan. Arrange 4 UNCOOKED lasagna noo¬dles on top of sauce, overlapping noodles slightly to cover the bottom. Spoon half of the cheese mixture over noodles. Top with 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce and 4 more noodles. Top second layer of noodles with remaining cheese mixture, 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce and 4 more noodles. Top noodles with 11/2 cups of meat sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese. Top with Parmesan cheese or our favorite, olives.