NOT "no garbage lasagna"

it's cruel because we want a recipe, yo!

I had to share... I make this MAYBE once a year cause it is a heavy and big meal, but when you gotta have lasagna, you want the real thing. No giant tomato slices in place of noodles here. About 2.5lbs of cheese. Saucy, sausagey, garlicy, cheesey, noodley goodness....




(edited to add recipe - sort of, I eyeball measure a lot, and season differently each time)

1.5lb ground Italian sausage
3-4 cloves fresh garlic (minced)
1 white or yellow (not sweet) onion
1 green or red bell pepper
5-6 baby portabella mushrooms
1 box Cremettes lasagna noodles
15-16oz ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup shredded or grated parm/romano/asiago cheese
16-20oz pasta sauce (I've used Prego Roasted Garlic when I'm lazy, or my own homemade sauce when I'm not)
2lb shredded mozzarella cheese
seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil, oregano, whatever trips your fancy)

bring large pot (10-12 qts) of water to boil, salt and add pasta. cook about 2 minutes less than stated on package. drain, drizzle with olive oil to keep from sticking to themselves, and allow to cool.

brown meat with a little olive oil, fresh garlic and fennel seeds. chop all veggies you desire to use into small pieces (about 1/4 to 1/3 inch pieces) and add to meat to lightly saute, season as you feel tastes best, cover & remove from heat.

mix ricotta, eggs & parm/romano/asiago cheese.

in a 13x9 casserole dish, coat with butter/olive oil/PAM or something to help keep from sticking. put enough pasta sauce down to have a thin coating at bottom of pan. place noodle layer, overlapping slightly. then add about 1/3 to 1/2 of the meat/veggie mixture, followed by some sauce, about 1/3 to 1/2 of the ricotta mixture, and a little of the shredded mozzarella. Repeat layering process starting with noodles, meat, sauce, ricotta, cheese, then noodles again. I usually only do 2 full layers, but there's enough noodles in the box for 3 layers if you prefer it that way. be sure to have sauce under the final layer of noodles so they don't become too crunchy while baking, and cover final layer of noodles with remaining cheese and season as you like (I put garlic, basil & oregano on top of the cheese) cover with foil, and you can either refrigerate for 2-4 days before baking, or bake immediately.

bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes (longer if refrigerated prior to baking) while covered with foil. remove foil and continue baking for 10 more minutes. let sit for 15-20 minutes before cutting/serving