Lasagna topper (breaded, deep-fried lasagna slices)

In a hot pan with oil, brown the ground beef and spicy Italian sausage, breaking it up, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.

Kill the heat and drain off the liquid.

Mix the tomato sauce into the meat; the sauce can go in cold.

Mix ricotta, cottage cheese, garlic powder, red pepper flake, olive oil and shredded Parmesan.

Spray the baking pan and spread a little meat sauce over the bottom.

Layer no-bake noodles (overlapping is fine), a thin layer of meat sauce, ricotta mixture and shredded mozzarella; repeat the layers twice more.

Cover with foil, non-stick side down so the cheese does not stick; or spray plain foil and lay it spray side down.

Bake 35 minutes at 375 degrees.

Uncover and bake another 10 to 15 minutes to get some colour on top.

Cool about half an hour, cover with foil and something heavy to compress it, then let it cool 6 to 8 hours or overnight.

Trim the edge and cut the cold lasagna into squares.

Bread each square all the way around: flour, then egg, then panko; the egg must stick or the panko will not.

Deep fry in oil at about 365 degrees only until golden brown; the lasagna is already cooked.

Let the excess oil drip off.

Variation: without a deep fryer, shallow fry in half an inch of oil at 350, coming halfway up the slice, turning once.