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Cheesy Lasagna Dip with Sausage

Name: Cheesy Lasagna Dip with Sausage
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: American, Italian-American
Ingredients: 1/2 pound mild Italian sausage, cooked, crumbled and drained; 1 cup marinara sauce (store bought or homemade ); 1 cup (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature (may substitute ricotta, if desired. Drain well.); 1 cup shredded mozzarella; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 small onion, finely chopped; 1 clove of garlic, minced; 1/2 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste); 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes with basil; 1 bay leaf; 1 teaspoon dried oregano; 2 tablespoons red wine

posted by Liz Berg on April 23, 2014 (updated 7/1/22)

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Cheesy Lasagna Dip with Sausage: If you love Italian food, this lasagna-inspired appetizer will become a new favorite!

Gooey and flavorful, this Italian Dip is perfect for game day or to start off an Italian meal!!

Why You Must Make

It’s a hearty dip that’s great for game day!
If you love lasagna, you will adore this hearty dip.
If you’re worried about the calories, serve with crudite!

Gooey cheese, tomato sauce, tender pasta…there were no complaints when my mom served up lasagna for dinner. Granted, she used cottage cheese instead of ricotta or bechamel, but her Midwest version was truly satisfying. So when I started to see scads of recipes for Lasagna Dip from my food blogger friends and more, I knew it would be a dish I’d test out on my book club.

Tips for Making

You may use ricotta or cream cheese in this recipe. I found the ricotta to add too much liquid to the dip, but if that’s all you have on hand, it will still be tasty.
A flavorful Italian sausage will work best. I use a mild version, but if you’d like a spicier dip, go for it.
Feel free to shake up the cheese with a Provolone or an Italian blend instead of just mozzarella.
Use a jar of marinara sauce to reduce the prep time.
You can also add some crushed red pepper flakes to your sauce to up the heat.
Make sure to brown, crumble, and drain your sausage well before using.
To make baguette toasts, brush baguette slices with olive oil, then toast in the oven, watching carefully.

My first try was a cheesy lasagna dip with a ricotta base and a sauce using diced tomatoes, which was quite tasty…served with thin baguette toasts. But my sauce and/or the ricotta created a bit of a watery puddle in the bottom of the serving dish…which was easily remedied by pouring the excess off while holding the dip in place with a spoon. OK when making for family, but not exactly ideal when a crowd will be at the door at any minute!

Next up in the test kitchen was a cream cheese version utilizing a sauce with Tuttorosso’s Crushed Tomatoes with Basil in lieu of those diced tomatoes. Much better. And this creamier, cheesy lasagna dip with sausage was much more satisfying. The family inhaled this before dinner after attending Easter Vigil Mass. Whew; a success.

FYI: The top photo is the dip with ricotta cheese and the bottom two are of the version using cream cheese.