TBC's Cheesy Sausage Lasagna
This is how I make my lasagna. It is super cheesy, super tasty, super filling, and you will not want to put your fork down! I love BIG food, and Lasagna is one of those dishes you can just keep piling up with all sorts of goodies! This is one version I enjoy making and just going to chow town on! Enjoy!
This is how I make my lasagna. It is super cheesy, super tasty, super filling, and you will not want to put your fork down! I love BIG food, and Lasagna is one of those dishes you can just keep piling up with all sorts of goodies! This is one version I enjoy making and just going to chow town on! Enjoy!
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup parmesan cheese grated
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons fresh basil chopped
- 1 box no-boil lasagna noodles
- 1 pound italian sausage hot or mild
- 3 cups ricotta cheese part skim
- 4 cups fresh mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1 can san marzano tomatoes or other brand 28 oz can
- 1 can tomato paste 6 ounce
- 1 pinch salt & pepper to taste for the sauce
- 1 medium bell pepper sliced thin
- 1 medium red bell pepper sliced thin
- 1/2 cup fresh mushrooms sliced or chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
- Carbohydrate 40.9610912226369 g
- Cholesterol 348.327275152325 mg
- Fat 43.025518862313 g
- Fiber 2.86731247743819 g
- Protein 50.3032781698013 g
- Saturated Fat 20.0944124440204 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (439g)
- Sodium 1295.31955416959 mg
- Sugar 38.0937787451987 g
- Trans Fat 3.1987967222857 g
- Calories 751 calories
Step-by-step
- In a large mixing bowl add Ricotta, Mozzarella, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper, mix well, set aside.
- In a blender, pure the can of tomatoes. Set aside. In a small sauce pan, over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add onion & garlic, saute until slightly translucent about 5-6 minutes. Add the pureed tomatoes from the blender, the tomato paste, mix well, add the chopped basil, and salt and pepper to taste, reduce heat to low let simmer 15-20 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile while sauce is simmering, in a medium frying pan over medium heat, remove the casing from the sausage add the Italian sausage to the pan. Break up the sausage into bits using a wooden spatula. Continue to cook until sausage has lost most of it's pink color, about 6-7 minutes. Continue to break the sausage up into tiny bite size pieces while cooking.
- Also while sauce is simmering In a separate medium frying pan over low heat, add a teaspoon of olive oil, add mushrooms and both green and red bell pepper, saute for 3-4 minutes to soften, reduce heat to simmer.
- Grab a large casserole dish, and preheat oven to 350 F.
- Lightly sauce the bottom of the casserole dish. Then line with lasagna noodles. Add a nice layer of the reserved cheese mix about 2 cups, evenly spread over the noodles, then top with a little sauce. Add another layer of lasagna noodles. This time lightly add a layer of cheese, just a little bit like 1/2 cup at most spread lightly, then add the sausage, and top with some sauce and another layer of lasagna noodles and lightly press down. Once again, lightly layer with a 1/2 cup of cheese then add the peppers and mushrooms, spread evenly, add a small bit of sauce, and top with another layer of lasagna noodles. Add another 1 to 1/2 cup of cheese, spread evenly, a little bit of sauce, top with the last layer of lasagna noodles, then heavily pour the sauce over the top, make sure to cover well with the sauce. Sprinkle parmasan cheese (or use some grated mozzarella) over the top and then finish it off with fresh basil.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 F for 1 hour.
- Remove foil, and let bake 5 - 10 minutes more, remove from oven, let cool 5-10 minutes, cut and serve!
Why is my lasagna swimming in liquid after I pull it from the oven? Too many home kitchens face this watery disaster because un-drained vegetables and un-simmered canned tomatoes release excessive moisture during baking.
San Marzano tomatoes require thorough blending and a strict 15-minute reduction on the stove to cook out surplus water before assembly. Sauteing the bell peppers and mushrooms separately for four minutes evaporates their natural juices so they do not pool inside the casserole dish.
Covering the baking dish with aluminum foil traps steam during the initial 60 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, ensuring the no-boil noodles fully hydrate without turning mushy. Removing that foil for the final ten minutes allows the top layer of shredded mozzarella and grated parmesan to brown properly.
Scaling this layered bake down requires reducing the casserole dimensions proportionally rather than altering baking temperatures, though smaller pans will finish cooking closer to the 45-minute mark.
