Ok, I started getting threatening emails for this recipe - so I decided to just post the damn thing before someone came lookin for me, hiding in my bushes, tryin to steal my personal cookbook!
It's really fool proof...although XL didn't care for it much, his sister LOVED it. He thought it was too cheesy - and that's not really what he was experiencing...it was the creaminess of the alfredo sauce. It's perfect for a nice dinner party! Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I'm a Trader Joe's shopper. If you don't have one near you, you may have to play with the vegetable quantities a bit. I purchased all of my ingredients from TJ's except the pasta and sauce.
Ingredients:
1 pound sweet Italian sausage (I used pork, but turkey sausage is fine too)
9 lasagna noodles
1 package FRESH white sliced mushrooms
3/4 bag of chopped frozen spinach
1/3 bag of frozen bell pepper medley (includes all three kinds - red, yellow and green)
1 container of COTTAGE CHEESE (I substitute cottage cheese for the usual ricotta - it's much lighter)
1 - 16oz. bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
2 jars of Bertolli Sundried Tomato Alfredo Sauce (or ANY kind of Sundried Tomato Alfredo if Bertolli isn't available)
1 large egg
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Directions:
Boil lasagna noodles (that one is kinda obvious). Remove sausage from its skin, crumble and brown. Set aside. Microwave (or thaw)the spinach and drain WELL (otherwise things may turn a bit runny). Mix spinach and egg in the cottage cheese. The egg holds everything in place - this is VERY important!!
Lightly oil a pan with cooking spray and saute the mushrooms until they're fully cooked. Set aside, then saute the peppers. Empty both jars of sauce into a large pot. Use a little bit of milk to get ALL of it from the sides of the jar - it's a little thick. Add cooked sausage, mushrooms and peppers to the sauce and simmer on low until the sauce thins out a bit.
Preheat the oven at 350.
LIGHTLY oil the bottom of a 9 x 13 Pyrex dish with cooking spray. Layer 3 lasagna noodles, 1/2 of the cottage cheese/spinach mixture, mozzarella and then sauce. Then another 3 strips of lasagna noodles, the second 1/2 cottage cheese/spinach mixture and mozzarella. Then the final 3 lasagna noodles, the remaining sauce and the last of the mozzarella.
Cover with non-stick foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil during the last 15 minutes to brown the top layer of cheese. Add a salad, some garlic bread and your favorite wine. YOU'VE GOT DINNER!!
