Pat’s Chicken or Beef Lasagna

Note: If making the beef lasagna, the bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, olives, red pepper, garlic, and Italian seasoning are all optional.

Heat oven to 350ºF.

For the chicken lasagna:
In a large skillet, melt oil and butter. Add bell, pepper, onion, and mushrooms; sauté till tender. Stir in olives, crushed red pepper, garlic and Italian seasoning, then add chicken, spaghetti sauce and the water (see note). Simmer until ready to assemble.

In a bowl, mix together the ricotta, 1/2 of mozzarella, Parmesan, eggs, parsley, salt, and pepper.

For the beef lasagna:
In a 3-quart sauce pan, brown hamburger; drain fat. (At this point, you may add bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, olives, garlic and Italian seasoning, if you wish.) Stir in the spaghetti sauce and water (see note). Simmer until ready to assemble.

In a bowl, stir together ricotta, 1/2 of mozzarella, Parmesan, eggs, parsley, salt, and pepper.

To assemble:
Pour about 1 cup sauce mixture on bottom of a 9×13 pan. Start with a layer of pasta, then more sauce, and half of the ricotta mixture. Repeat, finish with sauce over noodles. Top with remaining mozzarella.

Cover and bake 45 minutes. Remove foil bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Note: If you prefer, you may cook the noodles beforehand. If you do, omit the 1-1/2 cups of water.
Also you could use any other type of ground meats such as Italian sausage; I think I’ve even used pepperoni.