Lasagna With Italian Sausage And Spinach

Total Time: 1 hr 50 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 12 ounces dried lasagna noodles, cooked in boiling water
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 lb mild italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 30 ounces diced tomatoes, canned
• 6 ounces tomato paste
• 1/4 cup parsley, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 16 ounces small curd cottage cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 lb mozzarella cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Recipe

• 1 rinse cooked lasagna noodles and set aside. be sure that you don't use more than 12 oz. or the lasagna will be too dry.
• 2 meanwhile, in a dutch oven or other large vessel, put the oil, onion and green bell pepper. saute over medium heat until the onion is tender.
• 3 add the sausage and garlic and stir-fry until well browned, chopping up the meat as you stir, to make sure all of the pieces are small.
• 4 add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, oregano, basil and 1 teaspoons salt. reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• 5 meanwhile, press out the water from the thawed spinach so that it is very dry. put the spinach into a medium-size mixing bowl.
• 6 add the cottage cheese, egg, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoons salt and black pepper to the spinach. stir until well mixed.
• 7 in another medium-size bowl put the grated mozzarella cheese.
• 8 in a lasagna pan that you have oiled, put down 1/3 of the tomato-meat sauce.
• 9 cover with 1/2 of the lasagna noodles.
• 10 top with 1/2 of the spinach-cottage cheese filling.
• 11 top with half of the mozzarella cheese.
• 12 repeat using 1/3 of the tomato-meat sauce, remaining noodles, remaining spinach filling and mozzarella cheese.
• 13 top with the remaining 1/3 of the tomato-meat sauce and sprinkle 1/4 cup parmesan cheese over the very top.
• 14 bake in a 350 degrees oven for 45 minutes.
• 15 you might wonder whether or not there is enough tomato sauce, but once the lasagna heats up and the cheese gets gooey, there is enough sauce. i don't like a a lasagna with lots of runny heavy tomato sauce that covers the taste of everything else in the lasagna. if you feel like you need a bit more, add an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce to the tomato-meat sauce.