hasty tasty lasagna

the layering process: sauce, noodles, cheese, sauce, noodles, cheese...

So, a couple of weeks ago I decided that I wanted to try to make lasagna. Though I've had lots of experience in the kitchen, I'm ashamed to admit that I'd never tried to make this classic dish before. Unfortunately, I was quite limited in time and so I had to develop a recipe that would be quick to make but also (hopefully) taste delicious. So, I did what I always do in these situations and googled easy lasagna, the first thing that popped up was this recipe. At first glance (sorry to the creator of the recipe) the recipe seemed lacking. First, I don't eat beef or like to cook with it and second, canned mushrooms? Gross. However, the "bones" of the recipe seemed good, so I reworked it a bit (recipe follows below) and now I've made my version twice, both times with excellent results. Once again, all of the ingredients I used were purchased at Trader Joe's, so I suggest going there to obtain ingredients if you have the choice. Also this lasagna can be prepared, cooked, and ready to eat in about an hour and a half. (Photo Credit: Me)

Hasty Tasty Lasagna
Serves 6-8

Ingredients
1 pound uncooked Italian seasoned chicken sausage, removed from casings
3 large garlic cloves, crushed or minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound sliced brown mushrooms
1 28 oz. can tomato sauce (I used Trader Joe's Tuscano Marinara Sauce)
1/2 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 15 oz. containers of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese (divided)
3/4 cup part skim mozzarella cheese (divided)
3/4 cup chopped chives
1 package no-boil lasagna noodles (you'll probably only need 1/2 the package)
Crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper to taste.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet or saute pan, cook chicken sausage over medium-high heat, breaking chicken up into pieces as you go until sausage in cooked through, and lightly browned on the outside. Add the garlic, onion, and mushrooms to the pan, and saute until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the can of tomato sauce and cook until sauce is heated through. Stir in the parsley. Season with crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper to taste.

2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese, and the chives. Season with black pepper to taste.

3. In the bottom of a 13x9" baking pan, spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce mixture. Place the lasagna noodles on top of the sauce mixture, and then layer some of the cheese mixture on top of the noodles, then layer more of the tomato sauce mixture. Continue in this way until all of the sauce and cheese have been used up. I did three layer of noodles for mine a layer of cheese and small layer of tomato sauce over the very top (see photos if this doesn't make sense). After that, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese and the remaining 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese on top.

4. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes. During the last 5-7 minutes of cooking time I cranked the oven up to 500 degrees to allow the top to get lightly brown and crispy which I highly recommend (but make sure to monitor closely while doing so). Remove the dish from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy with greens and bread.

*Variation: The second time that I made this lasagna, during the time that I was cooking the meat, garlic, mushrooms, onion etc. In a second saute pan I wilted some kale which I then layered on top of the tomato sauce mixture while assembling the lasagna. When the lasagna was cooked the kale added a delicious flavor and was slightly crispy around the edges---certainly a welcome addition.