This recipe is my contribution to this month’s Recipe Round Up. I don’t often freeze main dishes, but one of the ones I do freeze is lasagna. Most lasagna recipes freeze well, but one of our favorite ways to have lasagna is with Italian sausage and spinach, so I’m sharing a lasagna recipe that has sausage and spinach in it. This will make two 9 x 13 pans of lasagna, one to eat the day you put it together and one to freeze for later. - 2 lbs. sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 red bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
- 2 green bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled
- 3-28 oz. cans diced tomatoes, undrained
- 2 Tbsps. unsalted butter, melted
- 1-16 oz. bag fresh spinach, chopped
- 1 cups grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
- 3 cups grated mozzarella cheese
- 24 oven ready lasagna noodles
- Crumble and sauté sausage in a heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until well browned. Drain off fat. Set sausage aside and wipe skillet clean with a paper towel.
- Add oil to skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add sliced peppers, sliced onion, and 4 cloves garlic. Cover and cook about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft.
- Stir in tomatoes. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20-30 minutes. Stir in reserved sausage. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set sauce aside.
- Melt butter in a separate heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat. Sauté 4 cloves garlic about 10 minutes, until soft. Stir in spinach and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Set aside.
- Combine ricotta and mozzarella cheese in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Preheat oven to temperature 350°F and lightly oil each 9 x 13 pan.
- Pour 1/6 of the tomato sauce into each pan. Spread evenly.
- Arrange 4 noodles in each pan and spread 1/4 of the spinach mixture over the noodles. Spread 1/4 of the cheese mixture evenly over the spinach in each pan.
- Repeat this layering process (tomato sauce, noodles, spinach mixture and cheese mixture) once more.
- Top each pan with 4 more noodles and 1/2 the remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle each with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
- Bake about 1 hour, until bubbly and browned on top. Cool 10-15 minutes before serving.
- Cool the pan for freezing as quickly as possible. Cover it tightly and place in freezer.
- To reheat, place frozen in the oven and turn on heat to temperature 375°F. Bake about 1 hour or until bubbly.