Easy Sausage and Mushroom Lasagna
Easy Sausage and Mushroom Lasagna: A couple shortcuts make this classic pasta dish a breeze to prepare!
Easy Sausage and Mushroom Lasagna
Did you know you don’t have to cook your lasagna noodles before baking? And how about your sauce? Have you tried an uncooked version? This recipe adapted from Red Gold, purveyor of prime tomatoes, had a couple of nifty short cuts that made creating this layered pasta a wee bit simpler. I took their Easy Classic Lasagna and with a couple of tweaks transformed it into this Easy Sausage and Mushroom Lasagna.
Tips for an Easier Lasagna
I’ve made tons of lasagnas..or “rizzoni” as Katie dubbed it as a toddler. But I hate how many messy dishes there are to wash when it’s all said and done. I started soaking my lasagna noodles in hot water instead of boiling them when I learned of that short cut, and when no-boil pasta came out, I tried that as well.
But the easiest time-saving trick is to make a more watery sauce and just use the pasta straight out of the box. As the lasagna cooks, the noodles absorb the excess water and are cooked to perfection. And doubly nice is that this pasta sauce is uncooked; there are definitely fewer pots and pans to wash after the prep is finished.
Red Gold also has recipes for Chicken Parmesan Lasagna, Fresh Harvest Lasagna and Eggplant Florentine Lasagna on their website…all based on the same Classic Lasagna from which this recipe was based.
Easy Sausage and Mushroom Lasagna
Simplify your lasagna prep with this Easy Sausage and Mushroom Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
- 1 pound mild Italian sausage links, sliced
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 (28 ounce) can Crushed Tomatoes In Thick Puree
- 2 (14.5 ounce) cans Diced Tomatoes With Basil, Garlic & Oregano
- Salt to taste
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage, or lean ground beef, cooked and drained
- 1 (16 ounce) box lasagna noodles, traditional, uncooked
- 1 (15 ounce) carton low fat ricotta cheese
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- In a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add onions and mushrooms and cook till soft and slightly browned. Add to large mixing bowl. Add more olive oil if needed and cook sausage till browned on both sides. Add to the onions and mushrooms. Add crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes, salt, and water to the mixing bowl, stir to combine ingredients.
- Cover the bottom of a 9x13x2 inch greased baking pan with 1½ cups of sauce mixture. Arrange 1/3 of noodles on top of sauce, slightly overlapped. Top with ½ of ricotta cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1 cup of sauce. Repeat layers and top with last 1/3 of noodles and the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 to 1½ hours; until noodles are cooked. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Yield: 12 servings
Total time: 2 hours.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Red Gold
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 416Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 886mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 1gSugar: 4gProtein: 25g
36 Comments on “Easy Sausage and Mushroom Lasagna”
Lizzy, that gorgeous slice of lasagna is really testing my willpower! Why does everything good contain carbs? Sobs!
I’ve used the no-cook pasta before and it does make a difference. This looks great.
Why on earth haven’t I think of that before!!! this is a really BRILLIANT idea. I always look at the package in the store and tell my self ” ok ,may be next time” :). Thanks for the recipe and the clever idea.
I love this lasagna!! look wonderful!!
Lasagna is a dish I very rarely make because of the time involved in prep…but love the dish. I knew of no cook pasta but not sure if I ever tried. Lots of great tips here too. Sending you love and support in your difficult week.
Argh! I wish I’d seen this post last night, Liz. (I made lasagna to a new recipe from one of my favourite TV chefs and discovered after I started that the sauce needed 2 hours simmering before it got anywhere near the oven. And then, it was probably the least tasty lasagna I have ever tasted. I’m ripping up that recipe and replacing it with your flavor-packed, quick and easy recipe). Love the sausage/minced beef mix, adding tons of flavour.
I love the idea of putting sausage in a lasagna … very tasty! And even better that it’s an easy peasy version like this! 🙂
I have made lasagna this way and think it is terrific. I will have to try Italian sausage in mine…I’ve never made that version and it sounds great.
Lasagna is a favourite around here. Thanks for this recipe – I’m always worried that my sauce isn’t watery enough to cook the noodles – this gives good measurments!
Beautiful lasagna Liz, I like the sausage in it…so tasty!
Hope you are having a great week 😀
I really should try the watery sauce trick with regular noodles sometime. I’ve heard it works really well, and you’ve just confirmed it. Super looking lasagna — this is one of my favorite dishes!
This is brilliant, yes please to lasagna with less dishes! 😉
The only proble is, i can’t hold my selt to keep digging the entire batches, LoL
I’ve been hankering for a good lasagna lately. You’ve sealed the deal…
Love how you sped up lasagna! I have a hubby who loves it, but I hate the whole making process….so this is definitely gonna happen in my house!
I’ll definitely keep this in mind the next time I make a pasta cake.
I’ve never tried this method, your lasagna looks good enough to eat:@)
We love lasagna too but don’t like the mess that comes along with it either. What a great tip Liz, love your easier version and can’t wait to try it next time 🙂
Easy lasagna sounds tempting.. the one that takes half day to make I wouldn’t repeat again 🙂
Lasagna can be such a messy and time consuming dish! I love your quick and tasty version Liz!