Jul 21, 20212 min read

Spicy Sausage Veggie Lasagna

Serves: 6

Didn’t know what to make today so there were leeks, bell peppers and zucchini in the veggie drawer and spicy Italian sausages in the freezer therefore spicy sausage veggie lasagna became the meal. It took some time to put it all together as I wanted to give it a rustic taste therefore it meant roasting the veggies. But boy was it delicious and filling.

Ingredients

4 cups sliced zucchini

3 cups sliced leeks

3 cups diced bell peppers

½ cup olive oil

1 tbsp Lawry’s garlic salt or salt and pepper to taste

½ tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp dried rosemary

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup diced onions

600 g hot Italian sausage or mild

½ cup white wine

1 bottle passata tomato sauce

Cooking spray

¼ cup water

¼ cup butter

¼ cup flour

1 ½ cup milk

3 slices Kraft singles cheese

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

1 package Catelli Express lasagna noodles

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Shredded parmesan for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven 450°F and line two baking sheets with aluminum foil
Place first three veggies in a large bowl and add ½ cup of oil, cayenne, thyme and rosemary. Mix well
Spread ½ the veggie mixture on each baking sheet
Bake for 25 minutes until everything is golden brown on the bottom
Heat oil in large sauce pan and add onions and sausage. Stir and crumble the sausage as you are stirring so the chunks are smaller.
After 8 minutes pour in wine and cook until ½ the liquid has evaporated
Pour in 90% of the passata sauce
Bring to a boil and then lower temperature and simmer for ½ hour, stirring occasionally
Spray a 9” x 11” baking pan with cooking spray
Pour water into passata bottle and shake so all the sauce and water blends. Pour into the baking pan and set aside
In a medium saucepan melt butter and whisk in flour
Pour milk in and whisk until well blended
Add cheese slices and whisk until melted
Whisk in parmesan cheese if needed add a little more milk to get a thick creamy sauce
Take off heat and set aside
Ready to assemble the lasagna in layers. You will need ingredients to accommodate as follows, 2 layers of cheese sauce, three layers of tomato sauce and three layers of noodles
Start with adding uncooked noodles on to sauce
Top with a layer of cheese sauce, layer of veggies, sprinkle of parmesan cheese, layer of tomato sauce and finally mozzarella cheese. Do this a second time
Finish with a layer of noodles, tomato sauce and sprinkle of parmesan. We will leave some mozzarella for when lasagna is almost cooked
Tightly seal pan with aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet so if liquid seeps out it doesn’t go all over the oven
Bake for 45 minutes then remove foil and sprinkle with mozzarella
Bake for 15 minutes, remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. If you cut right away the juices will spill all over the place. Cooling allows the sauce to thicken a bit
Serve with a sprinkle of shredded parmesan