I’ve done lasagna a handful of times now and everytime I do things a little bit differently. I’ve tried it with my homemade dough, traditional dried pasta as well as the oven ready (no boil) noodles. Overall I think I still like the traditional pasta that you boil first. This time I decided to jazz up the recipe a bit with some sauteed mushrooms along with italian sausage and I have enjoyed this one the best.

Ingredients for sauce

  • 28 ounce Cento San Marzano peeled tomatoes
  • Tomato Paste
  • Dried oregano / Dried Basil
  • Rind of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
  • Bay leaf
  • Salt
  • Garlic
  • Olive oil

Directions for sauce

  1. Sauté dieced garlic in the olive oil in a pot
  2. Add in the tomatoes (crush whole tomatoes with hands), tomato paste, oregano, basil, rind of parmigiano, bay leaf, salt.
  3. Simmer for at least 30 minutes and up to a few hours.

Ingredients for lasagna

  • Sauce from above
  • 1 box of traditional dried lasagna noodles
  • Whole milk mozzarella cheese
  • Ricotta cheese
  • Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (put in a food processor to make into crumbles for spreading – easier than trying to grate or slice).
  • Cremini mushrooms
  • Mild italian sausage (can also use ground beef, pork, chicken, etc)

Directions for lasagna

  1. Sauté slice mushrooms until soft and tender, add salt for flavoring
  2. Cook sausage (remove from casing and crumble) in some olive oil
  3. Cook pasta (follow directions) and then lay out on a oiled cookie pan to prevent from sticking to one another
  4. Add a layer of sauce to bottom of casserole dish to help prevent sticking
  5. Add layer of pasta
  6. Can create layers as desired – I did mushrooms with sauce and cheese (mozz/parmigiano/ricotta as dollops), then another layer of noodle, then a layer with sausage and sauce/cheese.
  7. Repeat a few more times (depends on amount of pasta and sauce you have)
  8. Top layer: Add sauce and then cheese layer
  9. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 F for 30-40 minutes, then uncover and bake additional 15 minutes.
  10. Let sit for 10 minutes before cutting and eating.

-StewsCat


Leave a comment