Ingredients:
(Don’t let the amount of ingredients scare you! The taste is worth it!) Meat Sauce:
· 6 Breakfast sausage patties (pan-fried or microwave cooked) · 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef · 1 Cup minced onion · 2 cloves garlic, crushed · 1 (20 oz.) can crushed tomatoes · 1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste · 1 Jar tomato sauce · ½ Cup water · 2 T white sugar · 1 T dried basil leaves · 1 T Italian seasoning · 1 tsp. salt and black pepper · 4 T chopped fresh parsley, reserved
Cheese Mixture:
· 32 oz. container Ricotta Cheese · 2 Eggs · 1 tsp. salt and pepper · 2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese · 1 Cup thawed, chopped spinach · 4 Cups shredded mozzarella cheese · 1 ¼ Cups grated parmesan cheese · 18 Oven ready lasagna noodles
Directions:
In a Dutch oven, cook ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in chopped breakfast sausage, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, on low heat for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with eggs, remaining parsley, salt, pepper, cheddar cheese and spinach. Mix until nice and creamy, this will make it easier to spread over your layers.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one quarter of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with ¼ of the Mozzarella Cheese. Spoon 1 /1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 15 to 20 minutes, until cheese is nice and melted on top. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.
Serve with some nice garlic bread and Enjoy!
