Lasagna with Meat Sauce

6 Quart / 8 Quart | SERVINGS: 6 | READY IN: 1 hr 45 min | PREP TIME: 20 min | COOK TIME: 1 hr

1. Cook and stir ground beef in inner steel pot of pressure cooker set to Sauté on High. Sauté until meat is browned and broken up into uniformly small pieces, 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Add onion to beef; sauté until onion is soft and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir garlic into beef and onions; sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds more.
3. Mix tomato puree, 1/3 cup water, Italian seasoning, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper into beef. Bring mixture to a boil, then select Cancel to stop Sauté.
4. Lock pressure cooker lid in place and set steam vent handle to Sealing. Select Pressure Cook (Manual) and cook on High Pressure for 22 minutes. Let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes before turning steam vent handle to Venting to quick-release remaining pressure.
5. Transfer meat sauce to a large bowl. Rinse out inner steel pot, dry, and return to pressure cooker base.
6. Stir cottage cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, egg, basil, salt, and black pepper together in a large bowl.
7. Spread 1/2 cup meat sauce into the bottom of a 7-inch springform pan. Place lasagna noodles (enough for a single layer, about 1 1/2 to 2 noodles per layer) in a single layer over meat sauce, breaking noodles as necessary to fit the round pan.
8. Top noodles with another 1/2 cup of meat sauce. Spread 1/2 cup cheese sauce over meat sauce, then top with another single layer of lasagna noodles. Repeat this pattern (noodles, meat sauce, cheese sauce) until pan is almost full, ending on a layer of meat sauce. Sprinkle 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese over the top.
9. Spray a piece of aluminum foil with cooking spray. Place aluminum foil over lasagna and wrap tightly over top of pan.
10. Pour 2 cups water into inner steel pot of pressure cooker and place trivet in pot. Fold another sheet of aluminum foil to make a sling and use the sling to lower the springform pan onto trivet.
11. Lock pressure cooker lid in place and set steam vent handle to Sealing. Select Pressure Cook and cook on High Pressure for 24 minutes. Let pressure release naturally for 5 minutes before turning steam vent handle to Venting to quick-release remaining pressure.
12. Remove cooked lasagna from inner pot and pour out water from bottom of pot. Remove aluminum foil from springform pan, being careful not to spill any water onto lasagna.
13. Return trivet to inner steel pot of pressure cooker and gently place springform pan with lasagna onto trivet.
14. Set CrispLid on top of inner steel pot and plug in. Set to 500°F (260°C) and cook lasagna until cheese is bubbling and browned, about 5 minutes. Lift the lid using the handle and set it on the silicone trivet. Let lasagna cool for about 10 minutes before removing from springform pan and transferring to a plate.

Mealthy Tip: If you have leftovers, they freeze well. Just place in a freezer-safe container or bag. Defrost in the refrigerator the night before and either microwave or warm in the oven.

Editor's notes (from source): The pasta dough is rolled to setting 3 (or 2). One batch with 3 eggs is enough for 1 lasagna in the blue pan. For the Bolognese I need 2 trays of mince, 5 Roma tomatoes and 1 jar of Rustica (then rinsed with 3 fingers of water from it), 1 onion, 5 cloves garlic, 1 Tbs pesto, dried thyme, oregano and celery, 1 tsp salt (then more to taste) and 1/2 tsp brown sugar. Red pepper and a little Italian seasoning. Cornstarch if needed. Mozzarella between all levels; start with a little Rustica, then layer, finish with a lasagna sheet and on top of it a little béchamel, mozzarella and Parmesan.