Lasagna

What you need

• 2 lbs of hot Italian-style sausage - I used chicken

• 2 onions diced 🧅

• 6 cloves garlic, minced 🧄

• 1 large can (28 oz.) crushed tomato 🥫

• 1 standard can (15 oz.) tomato sauce 🥫

• 1 small can (6 oz.) tomato paste 🥫

• 2 zucchinis, chopped - really any vegetables you want

• 8 oz. ricotta cheese

• 1 egg 🥚

• spinach, fresh or frozen

• 1 box lasagna noodles - I used Oven-Ready

What to do

Decide which layers you want! This time, I did - noodles, meat sauce, spinach & ricotta mix, and a béchamel sauce. I like to get creative each time I make lasagna — there’s no right way, just a right way for you <3

For the (meat, optional) sauce

1. Heat up a few tbsp of olive oil in a large saucepan on medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and garlic and stir as they get translucent.

2. As the onions start to brown on the edges, add the ground meat — I used about 2 lbs of Wegman’s Poultry Hot Italian Sausage — and let it brown.

3. Once the meat is cooked, you can add any chopped vegetables and sauté them now.

4. After several minutes, add all of your canned tomatoes: the large can of crushed, the standard can of sauce, and the small can of paste. Stir well, and add about a cup of liquid (water, chicken stock, or pasta water) before stirring again. Add 2 tbsp salt, 2 tbsp light brown sugar, and 1 tbsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp oregano

5. Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for anywhere between 30 min to 4 hours. Keep in mind: the longer you simmer it, you’ll have to frequently stir and add water (stock or pasta water is good here too!) to keep consistency and to avoid burning.

For the noodles

• With Oven-Ready noodles, I’ve had bad luck with them coming out undercooked, so I dunked them in boiling water for about 4 min (until they were flexible).

• Once semi-cooked, I pulled out the noodles and saved about a cup of the pasta water. Then, toss the noodles in olive oil so they don’t stick to each other.

For the spinach-ricotta mix

1. For fresh spinach: wash, chop, and sauté the spinach in some olive oil. (You can save some of your chopped onions from the sauce to cook with the spinach)
   For frozen spinach: microwave the spinach and try to squeeze out as much liquid as possible

2. In a bowl, mix ricotta cheese, spinach mixture, grated parmesan, salt and ground pepper, and an egg. I had some fresh basil that I chopped up in here too.

For the bechamel sauce

1. Melt 3 tbsp of salted butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 3 tbsp of flour, whisking constantly to create a roux.

2. Slowly (very slowly) add warm milk. I did 50% milk and 50% homemade chicken broth, so mine was a bit browner than most, but packed with flavor

3. Keep whisking as you add a total of about 1.5 cups of liquid. Add salt and nutmeg and cook until sauce is thick and creamy.

4. Season with pepper and remove from heat. Let this sit for at least 15 min before using for layering.

The Grand Finale: The Layering

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. With all your ingredients prepared, you’re ready to layer!

3. Start with a thin layer of your meat sauce at the bottom, then noodles, spinach-ricotta mix, bechamel, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and repeat! I can usually fit about 2 full cycles in a pan.

4. Sometime I’ll add bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, black pepper, and/or any fresh basil to the top…

5. Cover with foil and bake for about 40 min covered in foil and then 10 more uncovered.

6. Once the time is over, pull the lasagna out of the oven and let it sit for at least 45 min before cutting and eating! This waiting period is a great time to heat up some garlic bread or toss a salad as a side.