Saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until soft and set aside.

Cook ground beef in a large pan or dutch oven, drain and return to pan.

Add tomatoes, tomato paste, onion, garlic and remaining seasonings to the ground beef.

Stir well, cover and simmer 3 hours.

Remove bay leaves when finished.

While sauce simmers lightly beat the egg, combine and mix with cottage cheese and parmesan cheese.

Chill until ready to use.

Cook the lasagna noodles per package instructions and drain.

Spray or oil a 13 x 9 casserole pan.

Put enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan.

Add a layer of lasagna noodles over sauce.

Remove cheese mixture from the refrigerator and stir. Then spread cheese mixture on top of noodles.

Repeat layers making 2 or 3 layers, finishing with a layer of sauce.

Cover with Swiss cheese slices. Swiss cheese can be replaced with Mozzarella, Italian cheese blend or your cheese of choice. Juanita always used Swiss.

Cover with aluminum foil. I insert several toothpicks into the lasagna before covering with foil to insure it doesn’t stick to the cheese.

Cook 45 minutes to an hour, or until lasagna is bubbly around the edges. Remove the foil for the last few minutes to lightly brown the cheese.

Cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.