Feeding your family well: Turkey Sausage Lasagne - Make two - one for tonight

Today I am making a simple Lasagna adapted from the Barefoot Contessa Family Style Cookbook.

I was asked for recipes for the slow cooker. I have posted my Chili recipe which can be made in a slow cooker as can the Bean and Vegetable Soup. In trying to help those who are short on time get a good meal on the table quickly I have also posted "quick" cooking recipes ready in 1/2 hour: Italian Soup, Perogies with Sausage and Peppers and Chicken Etouffee.

I will be posting more recipes that can be made in a slow cooker as well as more 30 minute one pan wonders!!

You can prepare this ahead, leave it in the refrigerator and bake it for dinner, it only takes 30 - 40 minutes in the oven. Make two and freeze one unbaked. Put the frozen lasagna in the refrigerator the day before you want to bake to defrost. You can have dinner in 40 minutes when you get home.

If I am making a casserole on the weekend I often make two, one for dinner and one for the freezer. An "emergency" casserole in your freezer can come in very handy.

The same with soups. Make a big pot and freeze in family or portion sizes for a quick meal when needed.

My soups are what Rachael Ray calls "Stoups" a cross between a soup and a stew. With bread and a salad they are a hearty meal. Make extra chili for the freezer or Spaghetti and Meatballs.

It really doesn't take much extra work to make a two casseroles or a bigger pot of soup. It is really nice to have meals ready to heat up and not have to worry about "what's for dinner" when you come home late.

Take your meal for tomorrow out of the freezer after you finish dinner and it will be defrosted and ready to heat when you come home the next day.

Lasagna with Turkey Sausage

This casserole uses "No boil" lasagna noodles. I like the Molisana Lasagna noodles. They thinner than the regular no boil noodles.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 small or one large onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 1/2 (about 8) hot Italian turkey sausages - you can use sweet if you prefer - casing removed
1 280z can crushed tomatoes
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 pound lasagna noodles
1 container (475 grams) ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
1 large egg
1 1/4 pound mozzarella cut into cubes
1/2 cup Passata (Italian Tomato Puree)

Instructions

Sausage cooking with onions and garlic

Heat a large skillet and add olive oil. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add sausage and cook over medium low heat breaking it up with a fork for about 8-10 minutes until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of parsley, basil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer undiscovered over medium-low heat until thickened - about 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile in your food processor fitted with the metal blade add half the cheese, with motor running add the rest of the cheese a cube at time.

Add ricotta, one cup Parmesan cheese, the egg and the remaining parsley to processor. Combine ingredients..

Ladle 1/4 of the sauce in the bottom of a 9 X 12 baking dish. Spread the sauce over the bottom of the dish.
Add a layer of pasta (covering the dish and breaking the pasta to make it fit where necessary) then add half the cheese mixture and 1/2 of the remaining sauce. Cover with another layer of noodles, cheese and sauce.
Cover that layer with another layer of noodles and spread Passata over the noodles. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese and bake at 400 for 30 - 40 minutes until the sauce is bubbly.