Texas Lasagna

Apparently, along with this fantastic weather and lower temperatures, I am also enjoying a bout of dinner-time unoriginality. We're eating Mexican-themed food all week. Stay tuned for more recipes.

Serves 10-12 in Time: 1 hr. 10 mins

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chile peppers
2 C. small curd cottage cheese
2 eggs, beaten
12 corn tortillas (6-in. diameter), torn in halves
3 1/2 - 4 C. shredded Jack cheese, divided

-In a large skillet, brown meat; drain. Add salt, tomatoes, tomato sauce and chiles. Mix well. Simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes.

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cottage cheese and eggs.

-In a greased 9X13-inch baking dish, layer half of meat mixture, followed by tortillas torn to fit pan, half the cottage cheese mixture, and then half of the Jack cheese. Repeat again, ending with last of the cheese on top.

-Bake uncovered until bubbly, about 30 mins. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

This yummy recipe came from my mom. She likes to use the diced tomatoes with italian seasoning, and to replace the seasoned salt with Italian seasoning. She also uses flour tortillas instead of corn. We have done this recipe like that and it is fantastic. This time, we had a surplus of corn tortillas from trying fried tacos and we were out of Italian seasoning, so we stuck to the recipe as-is. It was great this way, too. We tried it this time with the diced tomatoes seasoned with lime and cilantro and it put a totally different spin into the mix. This dish is versatile and can be experimented with endlessly. Plus, it's relatively inexpensive and it makes a lot, so we'll be eating it all week!