I LOVE Lasagna. Bubbly, cheesey, saucey, noodles. YUM. But with the hubs peasant pallet he never liked Lasagna because of the Ricotta cheese. Well, one night we went to our friends house for dinner and guess what they made? Lasagna. My husband, being the polite man he is, ate it. What was the most shocking was that he loved it! He wouldn't stop raving about it. It's worth noting though that this Lasagna didn't have Ricotta cheese (weird, right?). But somehow, it was even better without it! My favorite thing about this recipe is that if you're crunched for time or only feel like being a little Betty Crockerish you can change the noodles to penne and skip the baking part and voila! You have fancy spaghetti!
Ingredients
1 pound ground Italian sausage (we like using spicy)
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of diced garlic
1 jar plain spaghetti sauce
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed (half of a block)
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 bag of shredded mozzarella
1 bag of shredded Parmesan
2 tablespoons olive oil
Lasagna noodles
Directions
1. Cook noodles according to package, drain and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 375. Add oil to a pan and heat over medium heat.
3. Once the oil is hot, add onion and cook till translucent (5 minutes or so). Add garlic and cook for another minute stirring constantly.
4. Add sausage to onion mixture and cook till browned. We like to keep some big-ish chunks instead of mashing it all up into small pieces.
5. Once cooked through, add spaghetti sauce and seasonings. Mix together then add cream cheese.
6. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until cream cheese is melted.
7. Grease your lasagna dish. Add 3 to 4 noodles to the bottom, depending on how wide your dish it. Spoon a few spoonfulls of the meat sauce onto the noodles and lather all over. Add a handful of mozzarella and parmesan. Top with noodles, repeat for 4 or so layers.
8. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes minute. Remove foil and bake an additional 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is brown and bubbly.
Notes
Spaghetti sauce isn't something I always have on hand. But I do always have tomato paste. You can substitute the spaghetti sauce with one can of tomato paste and two cups of water.
If you really love Ricotta cheese, you can substitute the cream cheese for Ricotta. I recommend mixing it right into the sauce as you would with the cream cheese. This gives your Lasagna the most creamy, perfect flavor.
You can use ground beef instead of sausage. We've tried both and prefer the Italian sausage.
As always, recipes are guidelines. Make it your own!
Comments