This lasagna with ricotta, spinach, and sausage is rich and delicious. It’s time-consuming but a lot of it can be made ahead, so enjoy it with friends, a big salad, and a bottle of red wine.
This lasagna is not an everyday kind of dish. Make this for company and plan to do some exercising to burn some of these calories off. Even with all that, it’s still a wonderful treat. If you want a recipe with fewer calories, be sure and check my Lasagna with Béchamel.
A few days ago, I found a box of no-cook lasagna noodles in the sale section of the store. I had never tried no-cook lasagna noodles, so I bought them with the intent of making my own version of Lasagna.
I have been making this lasagna for many years, and it seems to get better every time. Yes, it is time-consuming, but the rewards for the taste buds are worth the time and effort.
Lasagna with Ricotta and Spinach
I do not make a standard red sauce, although there are tomatoes in the sauce. There is a lot of meat – a little over three pounds altogether. Mushrooms sautéed with shallots in butter and sherry. Italian sausage cooked and sliced on the bias.
I don’t like ricotta cheese, I never have. A lot of people who don’t like it use cottage cheese instead, but although I don’t like the texture of ricotta, I do like the flavor, so to compensate for the texture, I add spinach, nutmeg, and Parmesan to the ricotta. It gives a nice flavor with more nutrients as well.
If you want to make your own Italian sausage, be sure and take a look at my method of doing this. You can control the spiciness and fat content when you make your own.
This is a great lasagna. Don’t let the complexity of this dish put you off. Once the sauce is done, you are home free.
Email Me the Recipe
Lasagna alla casa di Boswell
Equipment
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Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- 2 Garlic, chopped
- 1 Onion, chopped
- 2 Carrot, chopped
- 1 Green pepper, chopped
- 1 teaspoon Tuscan Sunset
- 2 cups Milk
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- 1 cup Red wine
- 1 can whole tomatoes, 10 oz
- 1 tablespoon *olive oil
- Ricotta Layer –
- 2 cups Ricotta cheese
- 1 package frozen spinach
- ¼ cup Parmesan
- 1 teaspoon Nutmeg
– Mushroom Layer –
- 10 Mushroom, sliced
- 1 Shallot, chopped
- 1 teaspoon dry sherry
– Other Layers –
- 1 pound Italian sausage, sliced
- 2 cups Mozzarella, sliced
- 1 package Lasagna Noodles, cooked or uncooked in this case
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
Make the sauce
- Heat a large sauté pan on medium heat. Add the olive oil and swirl it around so the whole pan is covered.
- Sauté the vegetables until they are translucent.
- Add the meat. Cook until the meat is no longer pink, then add some of the milk.
- Turn the heat down.
- Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until you cannot see the milk. Then add more milk. Do this until all the milk has been incorporated.
- When all the milk has combined, add the wine and the tomatoes, then cook down on low heat until the sauce is thick. Set aside.
Make the Ricotta layer
- Defrost and remove all the water from the spinach. You can do this by putting the spinach in the microwave for 3 minutes. Then add the ricotta, Parmesan and nutmeg. Mix thoroughly. Set aside.
Make the Mushroom layer
- In a sauté pan, melt the butter. Add the shallots and let them cook until they are translucent, then add the mushrooms. Add the sherry. Sauté the mushrooms until they brown with the shallots in butter and sherry. Set aside.
Make the sausage layer
- Pan fry the sausages on medium heat. Turn to brown on all sides. Remove from the pan, cool slightly, then slice them on the diagonal.
Make the pasta layer:
- Bring water and salt to a boil in a large pot. Cook the pasta just until it's done, then drain and leave in cold water while assembling the lasagna.
Assembly:
- Spread some of the sauce on the bottom of the lasagna pan.
- Put a layer of pasta.
- Put some of the sauce on the pasta, then put the mushrooms.
- Put a layer of pasta.
- Put a layer of sauce and mozzarella.
- Put a layer of pasta.
- Put the ricotta layer.
- Put a layer of pasta.
- Put some of the sauce and then the sausages.
- Put a layer of pasta.
- Put the rest of the sauce.
- Put the last layer of mozzarella and sprinkle with Parmesan.
- Bake in a slow oven for about 30 minutes or until the cheeses are brown and bubbling.
- Remove from the oven and let sit at least 10 minutes so the lasagna can settle.
I am impressed with this recipe. I made it just like the recipe. It wasn’t the most inexpensive lasagna in the world, but it was worth every penny.
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