Thursday, October 2, 2008

Spinach and Italian Sausage Lasagna with Alfredo Sauce

You already know that my homemade Alfredo Sauce is one of my favorite recipes. Well, this one is obviously right up there with it because it is made with the sauce!
This is a recipe that I made up as well. I took a regular old lasagna recipe and substituted alfredo, spinach, and italian sausage. I've seen a couple lasagna recipes online with one or a combination of two of those ingredients, but not one with all three like mine. You may find one somewhere, but on my normal recipe sites I didn't see one.

Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins
Serves: 6-8 (or 4 if you REALLY like it!)

Ingredients:
2 lbs. Italian Sausage
5 oz. Frozen Chopped Spinach
1 1/2 cups Mozzarella Cheese (for topping)
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese (for topping)

Alfredo Sauce:
16 oz. Cream Cheese
2 sticks Butter
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 1/2 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning

Cheese Layer:
2 Eggs
15 oz. Ricotta Cheese
12 oz. Cottage Cheese
1 1/2 cups Cheddar Cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Start browning the sausage and cooking the spinach to package instructions.
3. While sausage and spinach are cooking start the noodles and alfredo sauce. (This may sound like a lot at one time, but they all go really slowly, so it's doable.)
4. For alfredo sauce: heat cream cheese and butter in a medium sauce pan on medium-low heat.
5. When the cheese and butter are melted add the milk, parmesan cheese, and seasoning. (It mixes best with a whisk.)
6. When the sauce is mixed well turn off the heat and reserve about a half cup of sauce.
7. When the spinach and sausage are done drain each separately. (After draining the spinach I like to wrap it in a couple paper towels and wring it out really well, otherwise the lasagna will be runny. I like to chop the spinach some more after draining it so I don't get long stringy pieces when I'm eating. Also, rinse the sausage. The grease tastes nasty after it's cooked in the oven.)
8. Mix the spinach and sausage into the alfredo sauce and set aside as one of your layers.
9. Mix the egg and 4 cheeses for the cheese layer and set aside.
10. In a 9x13 pan (the deepest one you have) spread reserved half cup of sauce on the bottom.
11. Lay down the noodles, then 1/3 of cheese mixture, then 1/3 of suasage and sauce mixture. Repeat these layers twice.
12. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
13. Uncover and top with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Leave uncovered and continue baking for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

1 comment:

Jamie & Ryan said...

I've made this yummy dish before! Thanks again, for the recipe. It's one my my new favorites!

So about this blog...

I love to cook. I don't get to experiment with as much as I'd like, but I try what I can. I watch Food Network all the time and love trying things I see.
My twist is that I never follow a recipe completely. So, in my posts I'll tell you where I got the idea and the basic recipe, but I'll post the recipe the way that I made it.

All photographs on this blog will be my own, so it will be what food/recipes that I use really look like.