Just A Little Pinch: Lasagna with Sage Sausage

I loved to watch these two Italian women from Delaware County cook old world Italian food. You know, the one's who would hand roll gnocchi and then press with a fork ever so gently... simmering gravy (some say sauce) all day with meatballs prepared from scratch and carefully baked and sausage... to die for! The best was when they would cook veal cutlets! Anyway, I could on about them... I had the good fortune of recalling how they did it all. These were recipes handed down through generations.

I love, love, love making this meal! It does take some time to assemble but worth every bit of time and effort... My family, their friends, my friends could die for it. It will feed easily 8 people! If you don't have that many? There are always left overs and is this awesome for a quick dinner?

The only part of this recipe that has a non-traditional approach is using oven ready lasagna. Beautiful thing as you don't have to par boil the pasta! I always have gravy/sauce on hand in the freezer so I can use it for any kind of dish I prepare.

The key to a perfect section of lasagna is to let the whole pan sit for 15 minutes when you remove it from the oven. The cheese sets and when you make a cut, there is absolutely no slipping!

LASAGNA WITH SAGE SAUSAGE

16 Sections oven ready lasagna

3 Lbs. whole milk ricotta cheese

1 Lb. whole milk mozzarella, shredded

5 Oz. parmesean cheese, shredded

1 Egg

1 Tbsp. Basil, Dried

1 Tbsp. Oregano, Dried

1 "Just A Little Pinch" of Sugar

1 Lb. Sage Sausage (Bob Evans)

4-1/2 Cups of Gravy/Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium skillet, cook the sausage. When you are done browning it, make sure that you break it up really well. Drain and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl (and I mean large), combine all of the cheese ingredients, egg, herbs and sugar and mix well to a smooth consistency.

In a 9 x 13 pan, line the bottom with a thin layer of the gravy/sauce. Lay 4 sections width wise...

Take large scoops of the cheese mixture and spread so that it reaches almost to the edges of the pasta sections, smooth it out. Sprinkle over the cheese with the cooked sausage. Top with 4 more sections of pasta until finished.

Cover all of the pasta with the remaining gravy/sauce. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. When finished, uncover and let stand for 15 minutes before serving. It will remain piping hot!