I have hours my favorite cooking shows recorded weekly so that I can find new ideas & tips to feed the family during the week. Martha Stewarts Everyday Food show (public television of course! hands down the BEST cooking shows are on KQED) taught a quick & yummy Tomato Sausage Lasagna that I wanted to give a try. Being that lasagna is one of Jim's favorites...I knew he would be more than pleased with our choice for this class!
We attempted the recipe on one of our busy weeknights & it worked perfectly. Megan was able to assemble the lasagna before she headed off to basketball practice, it baked while she was gone and when we got home...voila'...yummy lasagna from the oven!
The recipe and instructions from Martha's guru's at Everyday Food:
http://www.pbs.org/everydayfood/recipes/tomato_sausage_lasagna.html
http://www.pbs.org/everydayfood/recipes/tomato_sausage_lasagna.html
Here's how it went down in the kitchen that night:
Our Ingredient List 2 cents & Changes:
• 12 dried lasagna noodles, (about 10 ounces), uncooked – I used the whole box 12 oz. and glad I did. 10 oz was not enough for my pan!
• 2 teaspoons olive oil – …we never measure ;-)
• 1 large onion, chopped – I would use half that next time – seemed to be a lot of onion for us
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning – I definitely used a LOT more – more like 1.5 tablespoons!
• 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes – we skipped it
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed – we bought the sausage not in the casings & it seemed easier than removing all the sausage from casing. Sage has mild Italian Sausage in a 1 lb. pack.
• 2 cans (28 ounces each) whole peeled tomatoes in puree – SMART to cut in the can with kitchen shears like the recipe suggests!!
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 6 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, (about 3 ounces)
The ONLY ingredient we decided after that we would ADD next time is fresh spinach! We all love spinach!! Yes, Megan REALLY does love spinach!
• 12 dried lasagna noodles, (about 10 ounces), uncooked – I used the whole box 12 oz. and glad I did. 10 oz was not enough for my pan!
• 2 teaspoons olive oil – …we never measure ;-)
• 1 large onion, chopped – I would use half that next time – seemed to be a lot of onion for us
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning – I definitely used a LOT more – more like 1.5 tablespoons!
• 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes – we skipped it
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed – we bought the sausage not in the casings & it seemed easier than removing all the sausage from casing. Sage has mild Italian Sausage in a 1 lb. pack.
• 2 cans (28 ounces each) whole peeled tomatoes in puree – SMART to cut in the can with kitchen shears like the recipe suggests!!
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 6 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, (about 3 ounces)
The ONLY ingredient we decided after that we would ADD next time is fresh spinach! We all love spinach!! Yes, Megan REALLY does love spinach!
I LOVE the idea this recipe shares with soaking the lasagna noodles in hot tap water for about 20 minutes (the time it takes to make the sauce) so you don’t have to pre-boil them - it saved a lot of time. I know there are no-boil noodles, but I agree with the shows opinion, they are not the same texture and thickness as regular 'old school' lasagna noodles. It sure made it easy for Meg to do this recipe on her own! After Megan’s last bout with chopping onions for Ratatouille, I thought I’d teach her a little secret :) …chopping onions with a food chopper!! She was SO excited that it didn’t burn her eyes this time and swears she will never do it any other way.
One challenge Meg had this time was with the cheese! We used fresh mozzarella and since we needed so much of it shredded, I taught her how to use the Cuisinart to speed things along (remember we had basketball practice in about 30 minutes!). The soft cheeses do NOT shred so well on the grater blade. The machine gives a little “jump” when it gets to the end of each cheese block. Megan did not like this part at all! But…for sake of smoothness and taste – I will take a lil’ Cruisinart jumping over pre-shredded (BLECK!) or semi-hard mozzarella cheese any day! We will have to revisit this machine with a recipe that will teach her the benefit of using it…because as of now, she ain’t buying it!
The rest of the recipe is pretty straight forward and simple - Meg sautéed the onions, tomatoes and sausage. Once cooked, she went & changed her clothes for basketball & then came back to assemble the lasagna.
We covered & tossed into the oven as directed. We think next time we will spray the foil with a little Pam non-stick cooking spray so all of the cheese is not stuck to the foil when we peel it away! We also cooked it about 45 minutes uncovered instead of 30. We like crusty crunchy lasagna edges!!
…wait Mama, I do not like it crusty and crunchy edged? That’s what you and Jim like?
Busted :-0
way cute Pia!
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