Friday, March 2, 2012

Healthy lasagna....

We had this lasagna for dinner last night and it was a big hit!

Ingredients:
1 box whole wheat lasagna noodles
1 lb sweet Italian sausage
1 green pepper (chopped)
1 Tbsp basil
1 Tbsp oregano
salt & pepper - dash
1 jar of your favorite red pasta sauce
1 egg
1 15 oz carton of low-fat ricotta cheese
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp parsley (I used dried but fresh works great too)
2 cups shredded cheese of your choice - mozzarella, cheddar, provolone, whatever - I use a blend.
           (1 cup will go in the with the ricotta mixture and the rest will go on top.)

Cooking Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a 9x12 baking dish - spray evenly with non-stick spray
Put 1/4 cup of red pasta sauce in the bottom of the dish and spread over the bottom of the dish.

Boil pasta noodles at a rolling boil for 10 minutes.  (I know most noodles boil for 12 but I like lasagna noodles a little firmer because you don't want them falling apart when you stack them.)

In a medium size bowl, combine: ricotta, egg, parsley, and 1 cup shredded cheese.

Cook the sweet Italian sausage until it is crumbled and no longer pink.  Add the chopped green pepper and spices.  Continue to cook until the green pepper is tender.

Layering the lasagna:
Place a layer of noodles over the 1/4 cup of sauce in the pan.  If the noodles don't completely cover the bottom of the pan - it's okay.  It's better to not come all the way to the edge than to have noodles pushing against the edge - that's how they get dry.
Crumble a thin layer of the ricotta mixture over the noodles, then add a thin layer of the sausage over that.  Now, use a spoon to pour a VERY thin layer of sauce over the meat.  Don't do too much sauce of the lasagna will be soupy.  Then place a layer of noodles over the sauce.
Keep repeating this pattern until all of the ingredients have been used. 
Sprinkle extra cheese on top.

Cover the dish with tin foil and seal it up as best you can. 
Bake for 40 minutes.
Uncover the dish and bake for 10 minutes more.

Serve and enjoy!!!

This lasagna doesn't get too soupy so it doesn't need to rest before you serve it like traditional lasagnas.

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