Mom's Zesty Sausage Lasagna

My favorite lasagna recipe to date, courtesy of mi mama! Great if you appreciate a little spice in your life.

meat sauce

cheese filling

zesty lasagna finale!

Sauce

2 T olive oil

1 lb hot Italian sausage – casings removed. 

white mushrooms, sliced (optional)

1 c chopped onion

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tsp oregano

¼ tsp crushed red pepper

1 - 28oz can crushed tomatoes w/added puree

2 - 14oz cans of diced tomatoes w/green pepper and onion (don’t drain)

Heat oil, add sausage, onion, garlic, oregano, and crushed pepper. Saute until sausage is cooked through, breaking into small pieces. Add tomatoes w/juices. Bring sauce to boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 mins to blend flavors. Season w/ salt & pepper.

Filling

1 ½ c fresh chopped basil

15 oz container plus 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

1 ½ c shredded mozzarella (about 6oz)

¾ c grated Parmesan

*Note - you will need more mozzarella and Parmesan below in the Assembly step. So buy enough!

1 egg

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

Mix all filling ingredients together.

Assembly

16 “oven ready” lasagna noodles

1 c grated Parmesan

3 c shredded mozzarella (about 12oz)

*Combine these 2 cheeses

Preheat oven to 375. Spread 1 ¼ c sauce in 13x9 pan. Arrange 4 noodles on sauce. Drop 1 ½ c fillings over noodles, spread. Sprinkle 1 c cheeses over. Repeat layering of sauce, noodles, filling, and cheeses 2 more times. Top with remaining 4 noodles. Spoon remaining sauce on top of noodles. Make sure all noodles are covered in sauce or they won’t cook.

Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Spray large piece of foil with oil and cover lasagna.

Bake 40 mins, then uncover and cook another 20 mins or until lasagna is golden bubbly.

Remove from oven and let stand 15 mins.