Italian Sausage And Mushroom Lasagna With Bechamel Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Bechamel sauce:
• In a 2-quart pot, melt 5 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. When butter has completely melted, add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly to prevent any lumps from forming. Continue to simmer and whisk over medium heat until the sauce is thick, smooth and creamy, about 10 minutes. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of wooden spoon. Remove from heat and add the nutmeg and tomato sauce. Stir until well combined and check for seasoning. Set aside and allow to cool completely.
• In a saute pan, heat extra-virgin olive oil. When almost smoking, add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Brown meat, breaking any large lumps, until it is no longer pink. Remove from heat and drain any excess fat. Set aside and allow to cool completely.
• In a medium sized bowl, thoroughly mix the ricotta and eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Into the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch baking dish, spread 1/3 of the bechamel sauce. Arrange the pasta sheets side by side, covering the bottom of the baking dish. Evenly spread a layer of all the ricotta mixture and then a layer of all the spinach. Arrange another layer of pasta sheets and spread all the ground beef on top. Sprinkle 1/2 the mozzarella cheese on top of the beef. Spread another 1/3 of the bechamel sauce. Arrange the final layer of pasta sheets and top with remaining bechamel, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Cut the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into 1/4-inch cubes and top lasagna.
• Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place lasagna dish on top, cover and put on the middle rack of the oven and bake until top is bubbling, about 30 minutes. Remove cover and continue to bake for about 15 minutes.
• In a large casserole pot or Dutch over, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and bay leaves and simmer uncovered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.
• Add 1/2 the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.
• If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat oil in heavy large pot over high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, and seasoning blend; sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 6 minutes. Add sausage and sautéuntil brown and cooked through, breaking up with back of spoon, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and stir 1 minute. Add wine; cook until almost all liquid evaporates, scraping up browned bits, about 2 minutes. Set aside.
• Spread 2/3 cup marinara sauce over bottom of 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Place noodles (about 4) over sauce, forming 1 layer (noodles may overlap slightly). Spread 1 cup sauce over noodles. Top with 1/3 of ricotta, then 1 cup grated cheese. Spoon 1/3 of sausage mixture over. Repeat 2 more times with noodles, sauce, ricotta, grated cheese, and sausage mixture. Cover with 4 more noodles. Spoon remaining 1 cup sauce over; sprinkle remaining 1 cup grated cheese over. Cover with foil, tenting in center to prevent cheese from touching foil. Bake lasagna 45 minutes; remove foil. Bake until bubbling at edges and cheese is browned, about 10 minutes longer. Let stand 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium pot heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes with their juices, oregano, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a simmer and continue to cook until the tomatoes soften and the sauce thickens, 20 minutes, breaking up the tomatoes with a spoon as they soften. Reserve 2/3 cup of the sauce for assembling the lasagna and set the rest aside.
• Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms have released their liquid, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the sausage and continue to cook, breaking the sausage up with a spoon, until the sausage is browned and cooked through, another 10 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and stir to combine.
• Thinly slice about a quarter of the mozzarella and set aside; grate the rest on a box grater. Combine the grated cheese with the ricotta and the egg. Spread the reserved 2/3 cup tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Top with 1 pasta sheet, a third of the ricotta mixture and a third of the meat sauce. Repeat with the remaining pasta, ricotta and meat sauce. Cover with foil and bake until the sauce is bubbling around the edges and the pasta is tender, about 45 minutes. Remove the foil, top with the sliced mozzarella and continue to bake until the cheese is melted, 15 minutes more. Let stand for 20 minutes and sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving with a green salad and some garlic bread.

Steps:

• Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat; whisk flour into the melted butter until dissolved, 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and white pepper. Pour milk into the flour mixture; cook and stir until sauce is smooth and thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, 12 minutes. Drain and transfer to a serving bowl.
• Remove sauce from heat and stir in egg yolks and nutmeg until well incorporated. Pour sauce over pasta; toss to coat.
• Cook and stir sausage in a skillet over medium heat until browned and cooked through, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir sausage into pasta; season with salt and white pepper.

Steps:

• In 10-inch skillet, cook sausage, onion and garlic over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sausage is no longer pink; drain.
• Stir in 2 tablespoons of the parsley, the basil, sugar, tomatoes and tomato sauce. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low; simmer uncovered about 45 minutes or until slightly thickened.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Cook and drain noodles as directed on package.
• In medium bowl, mix ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, remaining 1 tablespoon parsley and the oregano.
• Spread 1 cup of the sauce mixture in ungreased 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish. Top with 4 noodles. Spread 1 cup of the cheese mixture over noodles; spread with 1 cup of the sauce mixture. Sprinkle with 2/3 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat with 4 noodles, the remaining cheese mixture, 1 cup of the sauce mixture and 2/3 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Top with remaining noodles and sauce mixture. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
• Cover; bake 30 minutes. Uncover; bake about 15 minutes longer or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.