Three-Cheese Lasagna With Italian Sausage

Submitted by Alexaaa

"An awesome, basic recipe for good ol' lasagna. The sauce is perfect: hearty and flavorful. This recipe was originally from Epicurious.com, but I have edited it somewhat. This variation is quite a bit cheesier, and uses oven-ready, no-boil noodles. I'm not one to cut corners, but in fact, I think the no-boil variety taste just as good as regular noodles. Using them also eliminates one of the more tedious steps in lasagna-making."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 50mins
• Ingredients: 19
• Yields: 1 baking dish
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3⁄4 cup grated carrot
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 8 ounces lean ground beef
• 6 ounces hot Italian sausages, casings removed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes in puree
• 1⁄4 cup tomato paste
• 1⁄4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon golden brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dry crushed red pepper
• 15 oven-ready no-boil lasagna noodles (about 12 oz.)
• 2 (15 ounce) containers ricotta cheese
• 1 1⁄2 cups grated parmesan cheese
• 10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed, drained & squeezed dry
• 2 large eggs
• 2 lbs grated mozzarella cheese

directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add onion, carrots and garlic; sauté until softened, 10-12 minutes.
3. Add beef and sausages to pan; sauté until cooked through, breaking up meat as you stir, about 5 minutes.
4. Add remaining ingredients.
5. Cover and simmer until flavors blend and sauce measures about 5 cups, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
6. Discard bay leaf.
7. Set aside and cool.
8. Combine ricotta and ¾ cup Parmesan cheese in medium bowl.
9. Mix in spinach.
10. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
11. Mix in eggs.
12. Preheat oven to 350°F
13. Spread ½ cup sauce over the bottom of a 13" by 9" glass baking dish.
14. Place 5 noodles over sauce, overlapping to fit.
15. Spread half of the ricotta-spinach mixture evenly over noodles.
16. Sprinkle 2 cups mozzarella cheese evenly over ricotta-spinach mixture.
17. Spoon 1½ cups sauce over cheese, spreading with spatula to cover (sauce will be thick).
18. Repeat layering with 5 noodles, remaining ricotta-spinach mixture, 2 cups mozzarella and 1½ cups sauce.
19. Arrange remaining 5 noodles over sauce.
20. Spread remaining sauce over noodles.
21. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese evenly over the top of the lasagna.
22. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil.
23. Bake lasagna 40 minutes; uncover and bake until hot and bubbly, about 40 more minutes.
24. Let lasagna stand 15 minutes before serving.

Reviews

[Abby Girl]

I found this recipe in the Bon Appetit archives years ago. The only changes I did was cut the lasagna noodles down to 10. It's a nice change from the "regular" type of lasagna!!

 

[anme7039]

My family really enjoyed this! I wanted to try a "diffrent" lasagna recipe that was really cheesey since anything with mounds of cheese is 5 star with my family. The additon of carrots really brought this recipe over the top I think. Also another big plus was the no-boil noodles. Thanks for posting!