Sausage Lasagna

Making homemade lasagna is a big commitment. Prior to this Saturday, it had been about six months since I last did so, having made Butternut Squash Lasagna last February. This time, I made Sausage Lasagna, using a recipe from the Food Network, which was even better.

First, each of layering elements must be prepared. I began with a homemade tomato, basil, and garlic sauce, simmered on the stovetop. (I omitted the red wine called for by the recipe.)

Next I browned one-half of a pound of Hot Italian Turkey Sausage with diced onion, and drained.

And then, for the cheesy element, I mixed together ricotta, cottage cheese, spinach, basil, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. I kept things rustic and opted to mix by hand, rather than pulsing these ingredients in a food processor.

Then the fun (yet tedious) part! Layering! In this dish, I used no-boil lasagna noodles.

First, a layer of sauce and noodles.

Spinach and ricotta layer.

Sausage and onions.

Next, add a layer of shredded mozzarella, then repeat all the layers again!

About, eh, 12 layers later, you’ll have a lasagna. This baby bakes for around an hour, and then 15 more minutes of resting time after that, it’s time to dig in.

Mouth watering.

Totally loved this lasagna – it was worth the effort and time. Especially since we can make two dinners out of it this week.

This Sausage Lasagna recipe employs a few calorie-reducing techniques that cut down on calories but not flavor, such as using a small amount of highly-flavorful meat (Hot Italian Turkey Sausage), using reduced-fat and part-skim dairy products, and the use of spinach, which adds volume and nutrition without adding many calories.

With that said, there’s no way this tasted like a skimpy “health-food” version. Rather, this dish was packed with flavors and textures and we loved it!

We also had a salad to round out the meal.

Sausage Lasagna:

• Recipe from Food Network
• Calories per serving (1/8th of recipe): 350
• My Rating: 8.7/10