Spinach and Italian Sausage Lasagna

Nobody doesn’t like lasagna. Take a tip from Garfield the Cat and have it often. It’s not that hard to make, although getting your mise en place ready is a bit time-consuming. Once that’s done, however, it’s just layer and bake.

If you make your own marinara sauce, great. Me, I’m lazy, and I use store-bought jars of marinara. You can add other stuff in your lasagna – olives, green onions, zucchini, crispy bacon, leftover sausages – it’s all up to you and your “druthers,” whatever you like.

Lasagna is personal.

Ingredients

·         LASAGNE NOODLES, 1 box

·         ITALIAN SAUSAGE, 1 pound, removed from casings

·         SPINACH, 1 bag fresh (or, 1 box frozen)

·         MUSHROOMS, ½ pound sliced

·         RICOTTA CHEESE, 16 ounces

·         EGGS, 2 large

·         PARMESANO REGGIANO CHEESE, 1 cup grated

·         MOZZARELLA CHEESE, 16 ounces grated

·         MARINARA SAUCE, 1 large jar or 16 ounces homemade

·         OLIVE OIL, 1 tablespoon

·         GARLIC SALT 

Directions

1.       Grate the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, and set aside.

2.       Cook the spinach with lots of salted water until just wilted. Take out with a slotted spoon and let cool.

3.       Use the spinach water to cook the lasagna noodles until just al dente. Lay the noodles flat on a tray to cool.

4.       Sauté the Italian sausage in a tablespoon of olive oil until crumbly, set aside.

5.       Sauté the mushrooms in the pan drippings and oil, and set aside.

6.       Mix the eggs into the ricotta cheese until well blended, set aside.

7.       Spoon and spread a little marinara sauce on the bottom of a lasagna pan and line the bottom with a layer of lasagna noodles.

8.       Spread marinara sauce on the noodles, then layer with sausage, then ricotta, then spinach, then parmesan, then mushrooms, then mozzarella.

9.       Continue layering two more times, concluding with a layer of lasagna noodles, marinara, whatever else you may have bits of, and lots of mozzarella.

10.   Cover with aluminum foil and bake for one hour in a 350˚ oven. After one hour, remove the foil and continue baking for an additional 15 minutes or until the mozzarella cheese has turned slightly golden.

11.   Remove from oven and let stand for at least 15 minutes before serving.