Skillet Lasagna

It feels like I haven't been cooking much lately.  Somehow the last two meals I made lasted for almost a week's worth of leftovers.  Funny how, when I'm counting on leftovers, food seems to run out more quickly, but when I'm itching to try another new recipe, leftovers seem to last forever.  But I've finally cleaned out my stash of leftovers and am back in the kitchen!  This recipe is one I've had on my list since September or October, but the time just never seemed right to give it a try.

Recipe: (from Spark Recipes)
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can tomatoes, undrained
1 1/4 cups water
8 oz. tomato sauce
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups broken up whole wheat lasagna noodles, uncooked
1 cup fat fee cottage cheese
1/4 cup fat free grated Parmesan cheese (Although to be honest, I did not use fat free Parm.  It's one of the foods I find utterly pointless in it's fat-free version.)
1 egg
additional basil and pepper to taste
fat free mozzarella cheese for garnish (See parmesan cheese note.  Ditto.)

In a large skillet, brown beef with garlic and onions.  Drain.

Add tomatoes, water, tomato sauce, parsley, basil, oregano, and salt.  Stir in uncooked pasta.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for 20 minutes.

While pasta mixture is simmering, combine parmesan and cottage cheese.  Stir in one egg.  Add basil and pepper to taste. (Diva Note:  I'm not sure what 'to taste' is supposed to mean in this case, but I wasn't about to taste a raw egg and cheese mixture.  Ew.  So I guessed.  I sprinkled until I liked the amount of 'speckles' in the mixture.  Highly scientific.  It seemed to work out pretty well.)

Drop cheese mixture in rounded teaspoonfuls on top of pasta mixture.  Cover and allow to cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella and serve.

Verdict:
The combination of spices in this dish was fabulous.  Wouldn't change a thing there.  However, the consistency seemed overly watery to me, and upon tasting it, we decided that the noodles were nowhere near cooked.  I would absolutely make this again, but I would increase the simmering time from 20 minutes to 25+.   This would also hopefully allow for more of the water to be cooked off and/or soaked up by the noodles.  But it was really watery, so I'd consider decreasing the amount of water.  You can always add more... hard to take it out when you discover you have Lasagna Soup!  Microwaved for leftovers the next night, the noodles were fully cooked and we had no complaints.