I tested and combined several lasagna recipes. My version contains sausage, mushrooms, and spinach, and very little ricotta. My kids love it!
Lasagna
Author: Kristin
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- 1 (16-ounce) box lasagna noodles
- Olive oil
- 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed, divided
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 (12-ounce) package mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced
- 3 ounces fresh baby spinach
- 1 cup ricotta
- 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, divided
- 1 egg
- 6-7 basil leaves, cut into chiffonade
- 48 ounces homemade or jarred marinara sauce
- ½ pound grated mozzarella
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the lasagna noodles until they are soft and pliable, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove the pasta from the boiling water and lay flat on a sheet tray to cool and reserve.
- Bring a large sauté pan to medium-high heat. Brown the sausage. Drain grease and remove from pan and reserve sausage.
- Add olive oil along with 2 cloves of garlic and a pinch of crushed red pepper. Bring the pan to medium-high heat. When the garlic becomes golden and very aromatic, remove it from the heat and discard. Toss in the mushrooms and season them with salt. Cook the mushrooms until they are soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from pan and reserve. Repeat this process with the remaining garlic and the spinach until wilted.
- In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, ½ the Parmigiano-Reggiano, the egg, and the basil. Mix to combine well and season with salt.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In the bottom of a 9 by 13-inch deep-dish baking dish, add a couple ladles of sauce and spread out in an even layer. Arrange a layer of the lasagna noodles to completely cover the sauce. Spread ⅓ of the ricotta mixture over the pasta. Place another layer of pasta going in the other direction as the first layer. Spread a light layer of sauce on the pasta and sprinkle ⅓ of the sausage over the sauce; repeat this process with ½ of the mushrooms and spinach. Sprinkle a layer of mozzarella and some of the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano over the veggies. Repeat these layers until all the ingredients have been used up or the pan is full. Be sure that there is a layer of pasta on top covered with sauce and sprinkled with mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Cover with foil.
- Place the lasagna on a baking sheet and bake in the oven until the lasagna is hot and bubbly, about 1 hour 15 minutes, removing the foil for the last 15 minutes of cooking. Let cool for 20 minutes before slicing.