Anyways, here's how to make it!
INGREDIENTS:
*lasagna noodles
*Italian sausage
*stuff to make sauce (you can use premade sauce, but I prefer making it from scratch)
*ricotta cheese (large container)
*shredded mozzarella cheese (large bag)
*spinach/arugula mix
LET'S GET COOKIN!
First off, you're going to want to take your Italian sausage out of it's casings and brown it in a skillet. You can choose to use one of those sausage loafs instead, but I really like the way these sausages taste, so I decided it was worth the extra 30 seconds of cutting and squeezing.
While you're doing this, cook off your lasagna noodles according to the package directions. I didn't include a picture because I had them on the back burner and it didn't make for a good shot. After they're cooked, reserve about 1/2 a cup of pasta water for your sauce. Trust me, it makes it taste better.
After you've browned the sausage, take it out with a slotted spoon, but leave the "juice" in the skillet. Toss in some diced onion (I used about 2/3 of a sweet onion, but you can use less/more if you'd like) and caramelize them. This is going to make the onions (and your sauce) taste better. If you are opting to use premade sauce, obviously you can skip this step.
For the sauce, you're going to throw the onions into a large pot with some white wine (I forgot to include it in the picture since I already had it in my cupboard and all of the other ingredients were just purchased today) to your own liking-some people like the flavor to be more pronounced than others, I am one of those people-and about 1/3-1/2 a cup of the reserved water water. Now is the time to spice it. I used the token Italian grouping of salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, parsley, thyme, and basil, but again, it's all up to what you like. Give that a good stir and let it sit on low for about half and hour to an hour so the onions can really absorb the wine flavor.
Next, add your large cans of crushed and diced tomatoes and the sausage you set aside earlier and stir. Let this sit anywhere from 3-6 hours, depending on how much time you have to get dinner on the table, stirring here and there. Again, the burner should be on low.
Here's a quick breakdown of what we did for assembly. We forgot to take pictures of all of the steps since we had to wash our hands every time we touched the wet noodles or ricotta, but hopefully you get the idea!
*Preheat the oven to 375F
*Take a large, rectangular baking dish (we just used the biggest cake pan we had) and spread some of the sauce along the bottom. This prevents the noodles from sticking to the pan/burning.
*Lay your first row of noodles next to each other. If your pan is longer than the noodles, just have them overlap or slice off any excess noodle.
*Spread another layer of sauce, followed by general globs of the ricotta along the pan, then cover it completely with shredded mozzarella and a few heaping handfuls of the spinach/arugula mix.
*Top with another layer of noodles and repeat the process until you reach the top, but switch the cheese and greens so that you'll have a nice, gooey crust once it's finished cooking.
*Pop it in the oven for about 45 minutes or until the top starts to brown and bubble. Normally you should let it sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting, but my family was starving, so we dug right in and it basically exploded on our plates. It was delicious though and everyone loved it!
Stay Stellar,
Paige Elise
