Lasagna

I made lasagna for dinner tonight.  (I skipped posting yesterday because I made eggs and toast.)  I don't really know the proper way to make lasagna.  I just sort of wing it each time.  Here is what I typically do:

Ingredients
12 lasagna noodles (that's how many I used today anyway -- it was just the remainder in an open box)
40 oz. (about a jar and a half) of marinara sauce
1 tbs olive oil
1 cup seitan, ground
1/2 of a yellow onion, chopped
1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 cup shredded mozzarella (or Italian cheese blend of your choosing)
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan (the real stuff you have to buy whole and shred yourself -- the garbage from a plastic green container does not count)
1 egg
2 cups low-fat cottage cheese
2 tbs Italian seasoning (or you can use a mixture of dried oregano, basil, and parsley)
garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste (you can use regular salt and minced garlic instead of garlic salt, but I don't bother with the mincing since I can't taste the difference in this dish)

Directions

1.  Half-fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.  Cook lasagna noodles as directed by the box.  (I prefer no-boil noodles because they save time, effort, and an enormous pot, but Sameer insists they don't taste as good.)  When the noodles finish cooking, drain the water, and you can put them in cold water to stop the cooking and keep the noodles from sticking together.  I never bother with the cold water step.

2.  While the noodles are cooking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

3.  While the noodles are cooking and the oven is preheating, heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan.  Add ground seitan and season it with the Italian seasoning, garlic salt, and pepper.  Cook until lightly browned.

4.  Add the chopped onion and thawed spinach to the sauce pan.  Heat through and add a jar of marinara sauce.

5.  Mix the cottage cheese, about 1 tsp of Italian seasoning, garlic salt and pepper, beaten egg, and Parmesan cheese.

6.  Prepare a 9 x 13" baking dish with non-stick spray.  Layer lasagna noodles, seitan mixture, more lasagna noodles, cottage cheese mixture, more lasagna noodles, etc.  Top layer should be noodles, marinara sauce, and then mozzarella blend.

7.  Cover with aluminum foil and cook for 30 minutes in preheated oven.  Remove foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes.  Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.