Sorry- this picture was taken after the hungry horde descended! 🙂

One of our regular standby meals is Spaghetti with Italian Sausage pasta sauce. We have it often enough that I like to use the leftover sauce to make different pasta dishes.  This week I made homemade Spinach Lasagna Noodles and then layered the noodles with sauce and 5 cheeses. I didn’t go too deep in the layering- about 3 layers of noodles but it seemed to turn out well. I like to top it off with a layer of prosciutto for a bit of a salty crunch on top.

Spinach Pasta

• 2 eggs, room temperature
• about a half pound of fresh spinach, steamed and chopped to make 1/3 cup
• pinch of salt
• approximately 1-1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

Wash the spinach well, shake some of the excess water off and place in a microwave safe bowl.  Place a piece of parchment or a paper towel on top of the bowl and microwave for about a minute just until the spinach wilts. Remove and cool, enough to handle. Press the spinach in a sieve or a stack of paper towels, chop it finely and press again to remove the moisture. Mix the eggs, salt and spinach in the bowl of a food processor, pulsing until mixed. Add the flour a little at a time until a dough forms and pulls away from the walls. Turn out onto a floured board and knead for a few minutes until smooth. Cover the dough with a bowl and leave to rest for about a half hour.  Knead a bit, the dough should be a little moist but not sticky- you can add a little water or flour to achieve a workable dough. divide the dough into 4-6 portions and run it through a pasta machine on the plain roller starting with the widest setting and working down to the thickness you like – I usually go to the 5 setting for lasagna. Cut the noodles or leave them in larger sheets and let rest for about 30 minutes. You can cook them for just a minute in boiling water and drain or if your dish is very saucy and you will be cooking it for at least an hour, you can add them directly to your dish. If you don’t precook them or cook them long enough in a sauce though, they will be raw and unpalatable -so take care.

Spinach Lasagna with Italian Sausage and Five Cheeses

• Italian Sausage Pasta sauce
• Spinach Lasagna noodles
• 2 cups Ricotta
• 2 Tablespoons Basil Pesto
• 1 egg
• 4 cups Mozzarella
• 2 cups mixed cheeses- Asiago, Mizithra, Parmesan
• 5 or six thin slices of Prosciutto

Put a coating of sauce on the bottom of your baking dish. Add a layer of noodles, more sauce. Mix  2 cups of ricotta cheese with an egg and a large spoonful of basil pesto. Spread over the sauced noodles, Add some shredded Mozzarella, Asiago, Mizithra and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat with layers until you reach near the top of your dish or you run out of ingredients. End with a layer of cheese and then top with thinly sliced prosciutto to cover. Bake in a 350F oven for 45 minutes to an hour depending on how deeply you’ve layered your lasagna.

Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce

• 1-1/4 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 1/4 pound hot Italian Sausage
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large Onion, diced
• 3 ribs celery diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 large spoonsful of basil pesto
• 1 teaspoon dried Oregano
• pinch of dried Thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 of a large carrot, finely grated
• 32 ounces of tomato sauce, homemade is best but jarred is okay
• 1 small can of tomato paste

Roast the sausages and cut into slices or crumble 1/2 of the sausage after removing the casings and slice the rest with the casings on and brown in a large heavy bottomed pot. Remove and drain. Remove most of the grease from the sausage, leaving the browned bits sticking to the bottom and add a little olive oil. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, then add the celery, peppers and carrot. cook until the onion is translucent and the vegetables are softening. Add the garlic and spices, cook a few minutes. Add the tomato sauce and paste. Taste and adjust the seasonings- adding salt and pepper or more herbs to your taste. Stir frequently and cook over medium low heat until bubbling. Add the sausage back in and cook some more. At this point I usually remove it to a crock pot and let it simmer for a few hours, but you could serve it immediately or cook stirring occasionally over low heat and covered for an hour or so. It gets better with longer cooking and is even better the next day.

Enjoy!

xoxo