Sausage, Cheese and Basil Lasagna

While the image of this particular portion of lasagna is primarily out of focus, know that taste-wise, focus was much, much better.


Tired of chicken wings and opting not to eat steak daily, I recalled when I was single before entering university, back when I made lasagna often because it was easily frozen, thawed and reheated in single-serving portions.

Living alone once again, I decided to prepare a lasagna and searched for a new recipe.  Utilizing the Epicurious ap on the iPad, I found one that appealed to me.  This recipe doesn't call for extreme ingredients or time.

Sausage, Cheese and Basil Lasagna
adapted from Epicurious

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lb ground Italian sausage

1 c chopped onion
3 large garlic cloves, chopped

2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried crushed red pepper
1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes with added puree
1 (14 1/2-oz) can diced tomatoes Italian-style with basil, garlic and oregano (do not drain)

1 1/2 c (packed) fresh basil leaves

1 (15-oz) container plus 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
16 oz mozzarella cheese, divided into 2 cup portions
5 oz grated Parmesan cheese, divided into 2/3 an 1 cup portions
1 large egg
1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper
no-boil lasagna noodles from one 9-ounce package (some will be left over)

Nonstick olive oil spray

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat.

Add sausage, onion, garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper; sauté until sausage is cooked through, mashing sausage into small pieces with a spatula, about 10 minutes.

Add crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes with juices to cooked sausage. Bring sauce to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes to blend flavors. Season with salt and pepper.

I noticed straight-away that the sausage plays a key in flavors.  If you have a sausage you know you like, use it!!

Using on/off turns, chop fresh basil leaves finely in processor. Or, if you are like me and don't have a processor, coursely chop the basil with a knife of your choice.

Add ricotta, 2 cups mozzarella, 2/3 cup Parmesan, egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Using on/off turns, process filling until just blended and texture is still chunky. Or, if you are like me, simply mix the entire thing well with a giant spatula.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread 1 1/4 cups sauce in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish.

Arrange 3 noodles on sauce.

Drop 1 1/2 cups filling over noodles, then spread evenly to cover.

This was sort of tough as I'm accustomed to spreading cheese over warm noodles, which is easily done as the cheese becomes quite softened due to noodle heat. Here, imagine you are smearing cheese over a few crackers. Take care, but know you can be a little rough. Don't let the noodles sliding around on sauce intimidate you.

Sprinkle with 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Repeat layering of sauce, noodles, filling and cheeses 2 more times. Top with remaining 3 noodles. Spoon remaining sauce atop noodles. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses.

Spray large piece of foil with nonstick olive oil spray. Cover lasagna with foil, sprayed side down.

NOTE! At this point, you should consider placing a sheet of foil under the rack to catch drippings. I found my lasagna leaked sauce like a fresh fruit pie! Since my oven is already filthy, I didn't worry too much. Just lookin' out for those of you with clean ovens.

Bake lasagna 40 minutes. Carefully uncover.

Increase oven temperature to 400°F. Bake until noodles are tender, sauce bubbles thickly and edges of lasagna are golden and puffed, about 20 minutes.

Puffed is right! I couldn't believe how puffy this thing became -- it stood half-an-inch over the edge of the glass and while hard to see in the image, there were definite raised areas, evidence of pasta puffed-ness.

Let lasagna stand 15 minutes or more before serving.

By this time, the pasta had shrunk a little in height, so that overall, it appeared as a regular lasagna would.

The flavors were good -- I particularly enjoyed the sausage-y flavor. The basil wasn't as dominimant as I'd anticipated.  Some might say that the meat content wasn't enough, but I found it sufficient.  If you are meat-dependent, you might consider buying two packs of sausage. 

As far as sausage goes, it plays an integral part in overall lasagna flavor.  I went with mild because I didn't know Johnsonville fresh sausage.  Next time, I'll certainly use the "hot" rather than the mild.  By no means am I saying the lasagna was wretched, but it could've used a little more kick.

The noodles were interesting.  After they puffed and shrunk back to "normal", the texture wasn't much different than what I'd expect from a typical dry lasagna noodle.  The advantage is that you don't need to waste any time cooking the noodles before lasagna assembly.  However, it should be noted that the noodles need to be covered completely in sauce, or possibly wetted before assembly.  Any dry noodle parts will stay dry and thus yield crispy lasagna noodles.

Overall, this recipe was worth my time and effort.  I'll prepare it again, using hot sausage.  Now let's see what this sucker cost to make.

Cost:

• sausage: $3.99
• onion: $0.70
• garlic: $0.25
• tomatoes with puree: $1.29
• tomatoes, Italian style: $1(?)
• fresh basil: $3.59
• ricotta: $4.49 (with some leftover)
• mozzarella: $4.59
• Parmesan: $2.79
• egg: $0.18 
• lasagna noodles: $2.29 (with some leftover)

TOTAL: $20.57 or $2.06 for each of ten servings. The price is a little higher than I'd expected, but there is leftover ricotta and noodles. And I won't have the expense of purchasing take-out for lunch or dinner (8x) with these slabs stowed in the freezer.

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