Free-Form Sausage and Three Cheese Lasagna

I love cooking big meals on Sunday nights. I usually have a few hours to cook and don't have to worry about helping with homework or getting laundry done. Tonight I decided to try and make lasagna from (almost) scratch. This was definitely a time intensive recipe, but the results were well worth it. Next time I make it I will double the recipe so I have some leftovers.

Free-Form Sausage and Three Cheese Lasagna

1/2 pound whole wheat lasagna noodles (my one nod toward healthy eating)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for tossing
1/2 pound Italian sausage
1 cup water
4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
One (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes, chopped and juices reserved
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into eight pieces
6 ounces fontina cheese, cut into 8 pieces
1tablespoon butter, softened
1/4 cup thinly sliced basil leaves (or 1/2 tsp dried basil)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a large pot cook the lasagna noodles in boiling salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and transfer the noodles to a bowl of cold water and let stand for 2 minutes, then drain. Pat the noodles dry with paper towels. Put the noodles in a separate bowl and toss with 1 to 2 TBSP of olive oil, until they are lightly coated.

In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the sausage and form it into a patty, cover and cook the meat over medium heat, turning once until brown on both sides. Add the cup of water, cover and simmer for 4 minutes.

In a large saucepan heat 2 TBSP of olive oil. Add the sliced garlic and cook over low heat for 3 minutes or until golden brown. Add the chopped tomatoes with their juices and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so the sauce doesn't burn. Add the sausage and its poaching liquid and simmer for 4 minutes. Transfer the sausage patty to a plate. Simmer the sauce over medium heat until thickened, about 10 minutes. Break the sausage up into chunks and season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

In a well-buttered 9 x 13 inch baking dish, arrange 3 lasagna noodles in different directions in the dish. Spoon 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce over each noodle and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Put a piece of mozzarella and fontina on each noodle and add a few chunks of sausage. Repeat the process with the remaining lasagna noodles, tomato sauce, mozzarella, fontina, and sausage, sprinkling with more Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Bake the lasagna on the top rack of your oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the sauce starts to bubble. Raise the temperature to 450 degrees and bake for 7 minutes longer or until the top is brown. Let the lasagna rest for 10 minutes, then sprinkle the basil on top.

Makes 6 servings

Putting olive oil on the lasagna noodles

Bubbling lasagna sauce

Layering the noodles

Layering the cheese, sauce and sausage

Ready to eat

We had a green salad and some garlic bread to round out our meal. We also had a bottle of 2008 Pied Violet Reserve Zinfandel with our dinner and were quite happy with the pairing. The zinfandel was able to stand up to the tomato sauce and sausage and had a balanced finish without the harshness that can be found in some zinfandels. This lasagna was a lot of work to prepare, but I was so happy with the results I am already trying to figure out when I can make it again.

Till tomorrow...