Outrageous Beef & Italian Sausage Lasagna

This last weekend, I literally woke up thinking about lasagna and I just knew I had to include it on this week’s dinner menu. This recipe is super easy, and makes about 6- 8 small portions (aka if you are eating it with sides) or 4 large portions and is made in a small glass Pyrex dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of ground beef

• 1/2 lb. of sweet Italian sausage; de-cased

• 1 medium yellow onion; diced

• 2 medium carrots; shredded

• 4 tbsp. of tomato paste

• 1/2 cup of red wine (you can use any that you like/ have on hand)

• About 25 ounces of tomato sauce

• 1/4 cup of water

• 2 cups of spinach

• 1 package of lasagna noodles ( I prefer the no boil ones!)

• 2- 3 cups of ricotta cheese (depending on your preference, I like it light on the ricotta)

• 2- 3 cups of shredded mozzarella

• 1/2 cup of shredded parmesan cheese

Let’s start out by making the meat sauce for the lasagna. I like to start my meat sauce earlier in the day because I think Bolognese tastes better when it has a longer time to simmer. In a large Dutch oven, or another heavy bottoms pot or pan with high sides, add about 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add in your diced onions and your shredded carrots. Cook that off for about 5 minutes until the onions go glossy but don’t start to brown.

To your onion and carrots, add your tomato paste and mix it into the veggies. Cooking off the tomato paste a little helps with the bitter taste! After a few minutes, add in your ground beef and sausage meat. Let the meat brown slightly before breaking it up with your spoon. Let the meat cook fully (no more pink).

Once your meat is fully cooked, add in your wine to deglaze the pan and mix. You will want the wine to be fairly absorbed into the meat mixture.

Pour in your tomato sauce. Add your 1/4 cup of water to the jar of the tomato sauce- you want to make sure you get all of the good stuff still stuck on the sides and the bottom! Stir well, cover and cook on low for about an hour or so. Note: if you make your sauce in the morning, you can keep cooking it on low and covered for a few additional hours.

At this point your sauce will still be pretty saucy and liquidy. For a lasagna, you want your sauce to be a bit less saucy so it doesn’t make your lasagna super watery. Uncover your sauce and let it cook on simmer, for another 2- 3 hours. Leaving the pot uncovered will help evaporate some of the extra liquid.

A few minutes before you want to assemble your lasagna, wilt your spinach in a pan with a splash of water and remove from the heat. At this point you will also want to preheat your oven to 375F, get your glass Pyrex pan out, line a baking sheet with foil (to put under your lasagna pan in case of dripping), and, if you need to, cook your noodles. (No need to do anything if you have the no boil lasagna noodles).

To assemble your lasagna, start with a thin layer or your meat sauce on the bottom of your pan. Then add your pasta so it is fully covering your pan. Then more sauce, then dollop your ricotta around the top in small “balls”, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella, add some spinach, and then top with pasta. Repeat until you fill your pan. For your top and final layer. Lay down your final sheets of pasta, top with a bit of leftover ricotta, sprinkle with mozzarella and parmesan.

Adding the pasta and cheese to the top without sauce as your final layer will give you a super nice and crispy top.

Cover your lasagna with foil, place the Pyrex filled with lasagna on the baking tray, and put it into the oven for about 35 - 40 minutes.

After 35 - 40 minutes, take your lasagna out, take off the foil, crank the oven up to 425F and bake for another 15- 20 minutes until the cheese on top is melted and crispy.

When your lasagna looks how you want it to look, pull it out of the oven and let it sit for about 10 - 15 minutes. This is so important!! Letting your lasagna sit will allow it to set, which mean when you cut into it, it won’t just fall apart into a sloppy mess.

Serve warm and enjoy!!

Note: Lasagna also freezes super well in case you don’t finish all of it in a few days and is easy to reheat in the oven. But let’s be honest, you won’t have any leftovers :)