And, I say, Eat Lasagna

I’ve been making this lasagna for about 10 years. For 10 years before that, I was making the red sauce and canning it due to its low salt and low sugar properties. Yeah, the lasagna isn’t so low in anything in the end. However, it is still not too terrible.

Why spicy you ask? Well, a good friend of mine has a taste bud challenge and can’t taste much unless it is very flavorful. I made this dish and took it to dinner. So, I’ve cut back the heat just a smidge and here’s the recipe for you to try.

p.s. this thing is huge. I use a 12″ x 15″ roasting pan when I make it. With salad, you’ll you’ll safely serve 16 people with some seconds.

Print Recipe

Spicy Lasagna

This recipe started from a plain spaghetti sauce I learned from my mom 30+ years ago. Now, it is the most requested item when I attend any potluck. You can turn down the heat by using mild sausage in place of the hot sausage. The recipe is spicy, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd put it at an 8. ENJOY!

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Baking Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: baked, lasagna, spicy

Servings: 22 2″ x 4″ slices

Calories: 624kcal

Ingredients

For the red sauce:

• 2 lbs hot italian sausage
• 1 lbs ground beef
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 lg white onion chopped
• 1 bulb garlic about 10 cloves
• 2 cups red wine
• 5 cans whole plum tomatoes 28 oz cans
• 2 cans tomato paste 14 oz cans
• 1/4 cup Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp dried rosemary crushed
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 tsp crushed red pepper
• pepper to taste

For the white sauce:

• 1 bottle alfredo sauce 16 ounces
• 24 oz Ricotta cheese
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese freshly graded

For the assembly:

• 24 oz Mozzarella freshly grated
• 30 lasagna noodles about 2 boxes, uncooked

Instructions

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375. Set aside a lasagna pan. I suggest a 12 by 15, this recipe will build 5 layers of pasta with 6 noodles per layer.

For the red sauce:

• Remove the sausage from the casing and brown in batches. Add to 8 qt or larger pot
• Without removing drippings, brown the beef in the same pan. Add to pot
• Add oil and butter to pan and cook onions and garlic until onions are translucent. Add to pot
• Deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup of the wine. Add to pot with the remaining wine.
• Add tomatoes, seasoning and spices to the pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for at least 1 hour. Break apart the whole tomatoes.
• Taste and flavor with salt and pepper as needed. Remember, the flavor will intensify in the lasagna.

For the white sauce:

• In a large bowl, mix all ingredients. It will look grainy.

Assembly:

• Using a large serving spoon, spread 3 spoons in the bottom of the lasagna pan.
• Place one layer of noodles on top of the sauce.
• Spread 4-5 spoons of red sauce across the noodles. This should cover the noodles fairly well.
• Drop 1/4 of the white sauce evenly over the red sauce.
• Sprinkle 1/5 of the mozerella over the white sauce.
• Repeat 3 more times with the pasta, red sauce, white sauce, and cheese.
• Place the last layer of pasta in the pan. Cover with red sauce.
• Cover pan with foil and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes.
• Test for doneness with a chopstick or skewer. When the pasta does not crack when poked and sauce is hot and bubbling, top with remaining cheese, and bake for 8 minutes at 425.

Notes

This monster weighs about 21 pounds.  You might want help with the pan.