Italian Sausage Lasagna
Recipe provided by: Recipe AmericaRecipe Number: 429
Original recipe yield: 8
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 60 min
Ingredients:
1 pound hot or mild Italian sausage
casings removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 EACH red and green peppers
thinly sliced
2 large yellow onions
1 thinly sliced and 1 chopped
4 cloves garlic
peeled
1 28-oz. can tomatoes
undrained
2 teaspoons fennel seed
Salt and pepper
to taste
1 10-oz. package chopped frozen spinach
thawed
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
divided
3 cups low-fat ricotta cheese
1/2 (2 oz.) shredded Mozzarella cheese
9 lasagna noodles
Directions:
In large heavy skillet, crumble and brown sausage until
well-browned; drain off fat, set sausage aside. Wipe skillet
clean; heat olive oil over medium-high heat; add sliced peppers
and the sliced onion and 2 cloves of garlic. Cover and cook over
medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are wilted,
about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and fennel seed. Reduce heat to
low and simmer about 20-30 minutes, to develop flavors. Stir in
reserved sausage. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper;
set aside.
Squeeze all liquid from thawed spinach, set aside. In small
saucepan, saute the chopped onion and 2 remaining garlic cloves
in the butter until wilted, about 10 minutes. Stir in spinach
and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, set aside.
In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta, mozzarella and 1/2
cup of the Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper, to
taste. Boil noodles according to package directions; drain.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour one-third of tomato sauce
into a greased 9x13-inch baking dish; spread evenly. Arrange 3
noodles in the dish and spread one-half of the spinach over the
noodles. Spread one-half of the cheese mixture evenly over the
spinach. Repeat this layering process once more. Top with the
remaining 3 noodles and tomato sauce. Sprinkle top of dish with
remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.
Bake lasagna for about 1 hour, until bubbly and browned on top.
Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.