Sweet & Spicy Sausage Lasagna
This lasagna has a mixture of both sweet and spicy Italian sausage and is a favorite in our house. I usually serve this with my Garlic Focaccia bread on the side.
This lasagna has a mixture of both sweet and spicy Italian sausage and is a favorite in our house. I usually serve this with my Garlic Focaccia bread on the side.
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese grated
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 15 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil chopped
- 12 lasagna noodles
- 1/2 pound spicy italian sausage
- 1/2 pound sweet italian sausage
- 3 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- 16 ounces whole tomatoes undrained
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano chopped
- 8 ounces mozzarella cheese shredded
- Carbohydrate 26.8314067181462 g
- Cholesterol 106.4224375 mg
- Fat 30.0361742187551 g
- Fiber 1.88905159214666 g
- Protein 29.377099843775 g
- Saturated Fat 13.6653577187503 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (300g)
- Sodium 1090.32231250003 mg
- Sugar 24.9423551259995 g
- Trans Fat 1.86015448437597 g
- Calories 495 calories
Step-by-step
- Cook your two types of sausage and mix up to combine both the sweet and spicy together.
- Add your onion and garlic to the pan and sautee on low to medium heat until cooked through.
- Drain off excess fat in a colander.
- Place drained sausage mixture back into pan, and add 2 of the 3 TBS of the chopped parsley, all of the basil, sugar, whole tomatoes and tomato sauce to pan.
- Bring pan up to a boil, then turn heat down to a low simmer and simmer on stove for 40-45 minutes to blend flavors.
- Stir occasionally.
- While sauce mixture is simmering, cook your noodles in salted boiling water until "al dente", which will take about 7-8 minutes.
- When cooking to "al dente", your pasta should be firm, but not hard.
- Drain your noodles under cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Separate noodles for assembling your lasagna.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the ricotta, the first 1/4 cup of parmesan, the remaining 1 TBS of parsley and oregano.
- Mix well and set aside for assembling your lasagna.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- To assemble your lasagna, in a non-greased 13 x 9 baking dish, add the following layers: 1 cup of your tomato sauce mixture, 4 lasagna noodles, 1/2 of the ricotta/parmesan cheese mixture, 1 cup of the tomato sauce mixture, 2/3 cup of the mozzarella cheese, 4 more lasagna noodles, remaining ricotta/parmesan cheese mixture, 1 cup of the tomato sauce mixture, another 2/3 cup of the mozzarella cheese, last 4 lasagna noodles, remaining tomato sauce mixture, Remaining mozzarella cheese, Sprinkle 2nd 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
- Let sit out for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
- I like to serve this with my Garlic Focaccia bread on the side !
Tomato sauce does the heavy lifting in this dish, building depth through a deliberate simmer rather than a rushed boil. Rushing the reduction leaves excess water in the canned tomatoes, which will subsequently bleed out into your baking dish and turn the layers watery. Simmering the meat sauce for 45 minutes concentrates the sugars in the onions and whole tomatoes, yielding a thick clinging consistency that holds the layers stable.
The single biggest mistake home cooks make with pasta bakes involves the noodles. Boiling pasta until fully soft before it goes into the oven guarantees mush. Pull the sheets at 7 minutes while they retain firm resistance at the center. Rinsing them under cold water stops residual thermal cooking instantly and makes the slippery sheets easier to handle during assembly. Always drain rendered sausage fat completely in a colander before adding the tomatoes; excess grease prevents the cheese layers from adhering to the meat. When baking, covering the dish with foil for the first 30 minutes traps steam so the pasta hydrates fully without burning the top cheese layer, then uncovering for 15 minutes develops proper browning.
Dividing this build into smaller baking vessels works well if you need to scale portions down, though layering ratios must remain exact to maintain structural integrity. Leftovers keep safely in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or freeze unbaked after assembly if tightly wrapped.
Avoiding Watery Layers
The single biggest mistake home cooks make with pasta bakes involves the noodles. Boiling pasta until fully soft before it goes into the oven guarantees mush. Pull the sheets at 7 minutes while they retain firm resistance at the center. Rinsing them under cold water stops residual thermal cooking instantly and makes the slippery sheets easier to handle during assembly. Always drain rendered sausage fat completely in a colander before adding the tomatoes; excess grease prevents the cheese layers from adhering to the meat. When baking, covering the dish with foil for the first 30 minutes traps steam so the pasta hydrates fully without burning the top cheese layer, then uncovering for 15 minutes develops proper browning.
Scaling and Storing
Dividing this build into smaller baking vessels works well if you need to scale portions down, though layering ratios must remain exact to maintain structural integrity. Leftovers keep safely in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or freeze unbaked after assembly if tightly wrapped.
