Kubiertos

Meat sauce. Bechamel. Cheese. Think rich, yummy lasagna. I love it! The many times I have made it though really became too rich even for me. Imagine all that butter you need to make your bechamel sauce. My mom recommended I try ricotta and I know that many other recipes call for it too. The thing is, ricotta is not available in our nearby supermarket and you have to go out to a specialty store just to get a tub of it. So I came up with something that used cream cheese and milk instead of ricotta or butter. And the result was marvelously delicious. More cheesy (which I love) than rich and creamy.

Ingredients:

1 package lasagna noodles (cooked to directions)
cheddar cheese

Meat sauce
1/2 kilo ground lean pork
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 medium onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil

Cheese sauce
8 oz cream cheese (cut into small cubes)
1 cup milk

Procedures:

Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat. Saute garlic and onions until translucent. Put in ground pork and stir until everything is cooked. At this point, the pork would have produced a lot of oil. Scoop out some of the excess oil then put in the tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir until the paste dissolves into a sauce. Let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes so that the meat absorbs the flavor of the tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, and basil. Set aside.

In a saucepan, put in 1 cup milk over medium heat. Add in cream cheese and melt to make the cheese sauce.

To assemble, line the bottom of a baking pan with meat sauce. place the lasagna noodles over it. Top with meat sauce, cheese sauce then noodles. Continue this combination until the baking pan is filled to the top. Cover the top with the cheddar cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in 350 degrees F. Cut into 2 inch squares and serve.