Buckytom's Sausage n Peppers Lasagna

buckytom

Grill Master
i made this last week using no-boil noodles, and it was one of the best lasagnas i've ever made. it was a little sloppy, so the key is to use just enough sauce but not over do it.

ingredients:

1 lb. mozarella cheese
1 pkg. no-boil noodles, i used ronzoni brand
1 quart of tomato sauce, i used prego brand
36 ozs. of ricotta cheese
4 extra large eggs
2 tbsps. of dried basil
1/2 tsp. of dried oregano
2 tbsps. of fennel seeds
2 lbs. sweet italian sausage
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
8 shallots (4 shallots peeled into two cloves each)
2 tbsps. of olive oil
1 aluminum tray, 1/2 size - deep, 12"x10"x4"

for lasagna, you need to get your mise en place, and then you can start building.

first, clean and slice the peppers into a thin julienne, about 2 inches long. roughly slice the shallots into strips as well. in a skillet over medium heat, sweat the peppers and shallots in a little olive oil until just beginning to get soft.

remove the casing and brown the sausage in olive oil over high heat, breaking it up into chunks.

using just a little water, deglaze the skillet used for browning the sausage, then turn off the heat and add tomato sauce to incorporate.

in a large bowl, combine the ricotta, 2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites, the basil and oregano until it is all evenly blended.

grate the mozarella cheese into large curls.




now you're ready to begin building. ladel just enough sauce to cover the bottom of the aluminum tray. put down a layer of noodles, leaving just a millimeter or two between the pieces for expansion. you may have to break a piece or two to fill in one side depending on the size and shape of the tray. ladel just a little more sauce on the top of the noodle, spreading it evenly across the ridges.

repeat this step with another layer of noodles, turning them so the ridges lie across the grain of the first layer. put down the noodle layer, then a bit more sauce spread evenly on top.

now, spread the ricotta mixture thickly across for the next layer, then top with a noodle layer, again, with the ridges perpendicular to the previous layer. spread a little sauce on top of the noodles evenly.

next, spread a layer of sausage, sprinkle with fennel seeds, then a layer of peppers and shallots, and half of the shredded mozarella. cover with sauce, and add the final layer of noodles on top.

once again, spread enough sauce across the top layer to cover everything edge to egde, the cover with the reamaining shredded mozarella.

cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. take it out of the fridge and let it warm up a little on a counter for about an hour, then put in an oven at 325 for 35 minutes.

turn up the heat to 375 and remove the foil, bake for 15 more minutes, until the cheese begins to turn golden.

let it rest for about 10 minutes, then serve with crusty bread and chianti.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Wow, that sounds spectacular! Wish you had a picture, BT!

Thing must have weighed a ton!

Yummm!

Lee
 
K

Kimchee

Guest
Sounds really good to me!
I love the fennel seeds idea.... what a taste bonus!
 

buckytom

Grill Master
i was surprised when dw and my boy ate it for dinner two days in a row! that's why i posted the recipe, as it mustn't have sucked, lol.

i love fennel seeds in italian sausage, so i added more to bring out the flavour.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
I'm going to use this recipe, and ATK's recipe to make the first lasagna I've made in probably 15 years. On Monday.

ATK thinks it's important to have ground meat and parm cheese in there, and I think it's important to have sausage and fennel seed in there, so I'll go with all of them.

ATK makes their own sauce with cans of pureed and diced tomatoes, but I have a several jars of excellent sauce (Barilla, and sauce from a local popular restaurant called "The Chateau", Pastene distributes it) so I'll go with BT's storebought method on the sauce.

Still debating about including the peppers.

Both use the no-boil noodles and hand-shredded mozzarella (as opposed to bagged).

Monday is going to be another rainy, crummy day - good day to be making this.

I'm pretty sure I'll have enough for all of you, so come on over if you can get here. Note: Logan may be closed, so plan accordingly. :chef:

Update: I made it and here are the pics. Even with the no-boil noodles (which were excellent, BTW), this is time-consuming. I did have a lot of time today, so it was fine, but now I remember why I rarely make it.

Lee

lasagna1.jpg


Out of the oven

lasagna2.jpg


With Parmesan-Baked Zucchini
 
Last edited:

PanchoHambre

New member
Nice recipe. I will have to try this. Lasagne and S&P are two of my favorite things to make but I never combined them... Chianti is a nice touch
 

buckytom

Grill Master
nice job, qsis! looks deelish. pics are beauties.

did you really think this was time consuming? i think my prep time for the mise en place (it doesn't look like you used peppers :ohmy: :glare: that was the spirit of the dish :sad:) was 20 minutes or so, with maybe another 10 minutes to build the layers using no boil noodles and jarred sauce.

10 minutes to brown sausage while cleaning and slicing the peppers and shallots, 5 minutes to sweat the veggies, 5 minutes to blend the herbs, eggs, and ricotta, and prep the rest of the ingredients. then 10 minutes to build the layers, and 40 to 45 minutes bake time. an hour and 20 on the outside, start to finish.

ok, so it isn't a 30 minute meal, lol. i'm no rachel ray. :respect:

panch, et al, lemme know if you make this. i'm always open for opinions to improve my cooking.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
(it doesn't look like you used peppers :ohmy: :glare: that was the spirit of the dish :sad:) .

Awwwwwwwww, yes, you are right on both accounts, BT! I didn't use peppers, and peppers WERE the spirit of your dish!

Maybe I should have started a new thread with the lasagna I made, but I did like and use some of the elements of your recipe, so I tagged onto it.

Your ideas made my lasagna better! So HAPPY emoticon! :biggrin:

Lee
 
Wow - looks great. Will definitely be trying this, but subbing in Italian turkey sausage which I can get in bulk minus the casing. Easy peasy!
 

buzzard767

golfaknifeaholic
Gold Site Supporter
That sounds outstanding, BT. And you busted Qsis too. :yum: Actually, the Qsis version looks delicious and I'm sure it was.
 

buckytom

Grill Master
lol, buzz. i'm sure qsis knows i was just busting her chops. actually, her version is how i made mine for years before i tried adding peppers and shallots.

and thanks ralph, breezy, and, kimchee. if anyone makes this, please let me know if you were able to get yours to hold it's shape better. i'm still working on that.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
if anyone makes this, please let me know if you were able to get yours to hold it's shape better. i'm still working on that.

I found the solution!! Just leave out the peppers. :bounce:

Lee
 

High Cheese

Saucier
Sounds great BT! And yeah, it's sacrilegious to keep the peppa from the sauseeeege! :twak:

if anyone makes this, please let me know if you were able to get yours to hold it's shape better. i'm still working on that.

Maybe let it rest a bit longer? I'm gonna try this one.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
gotta spread some rep around, but you'll get yours. karma, i mean, of course...

My birthday's coming up and I STILL don't have a diamond tennis bracelet.

But, karma is nice, too. :biggrin:

Lee
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
P.S. And YOU taught me a new word and phrase today too (as well as High Cheese).

Had to look up petard. Love the origin of the word and phrase! LOL!

Lee

Word History: The French used pétard, "a loud discharge of intestinal gas," for a kind of infernal engine for blasting through the gates of a city. "To be hoist by one's own petard," a now proverbial phrase apparently originating with Shakespeare's Hamlet (around 1604) not long after the word entered English (around 1598), means "to blow oneself up with one's own bomb, be undone by one's own devices." The French noun pet, "fart," developed regularly from the Latin noun pēditum, from the Indo-European root *pezd-, "fart."​
 
lol, buzz. i'm sure qsis knows i was just busting her chops. actually, her version is how i made mine for years before i tried adding peppers and shallots.

and thanks ralph, breezy, and, kimchee. if anyone makes this, please let me know if you were able to get yours to hold it's shape better. i'm still working on that.

You just had to post this when I'm trying to get into that bikini ;-) Sounds decadent & delish. You might try using two (or more) glass/pyrex casserole dishes to hold it together.

Your timing couldn't be better, as I was making a shopping list for cheese-filled *ravioli w/ sausage & peppers. Think I may turn it into a ravioli lasagna (w/sausage & peppers). Thanks for the recipe & inspiration.

http://www.womansday.com/Recipes/Ravioli-with-Sausage-and-Peppers
 
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