Sausage Lasagna

Ingredience

Sauce

1 (1-pound) fennel bulb, stalks discarded, bulb halved, cored, and chopped coarse

1 onion, chopped coarse

3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

4 garlic cloves, peeled

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 pounds hot or sweet Italian sausage, casings removed

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce

Lasagna

17 curly-edged lasagna noodles

Table salt for cooking pasta

Vegetable oil spray

1 pound whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded (4 cups)

8 ounces provolone cheese, shredded (2 cups)

4 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, ground fine in food processor (¾ cup)

1½ teaspoons dried oregano

1 pound (2 cups) whole-milk cottage cheese

Pokyny

1. For the Sauce Combine fennel, onion, sage, garlic, fennel seeds, and pepper flakes in food processor and pulse until finely chopped, about 10 pulses; set aside. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add sausage and cook, breaking up meat with potato masher, until sausage begins to sizzle in its own fat, about 15 minutes.

2. Reduce heat to medium and add fennel mixture. Cook until vegetables are softened and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Set aside off heat. Reserve 2 cups sauce for topping.

3. For the Lasagna Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add noodles and 1 tablespoon salt and cook until just shy of al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain noodles and transfer to rimmed baking sheet. Spray noodles lightly with oil spray; toss gently to coat (to prevent them from sticking to each other). Cut 2 noodles in half crosswise.

4. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 13 by 9-inch baking dish with oil spray. Combine mozzarella, provolone, Pecorino, and oregano in bowl. Reserve 2 cups mozzarella mixture for topping.

5. Lay 3 noodles lengthwise in prepared dish with ends touching short side of dish, leaving gap at far end. Lay 1 half noodle crosswise to fill gap. Spread 1½ cups meat sauce over noodles; dollop ½ cup cottage cheese over sauce. Use back of spoon to spread cottage cheese evenly over sauce. Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella mixture.

6. Repeat layering of noodles, meat sauce, cottage cheese, and mozzarella mixture 3 more times, switching position of half noodle to opposite end of dish each time.

7. Lay remaining 3 noodles over top (there is no half noodle for top layer). Spread reserved 2 cups sauce over noodles, then sprinkle with reserved 2 cups mozzarella mixture.

8. Spray sheet of aluminum foil with oil spray and cover lasagna. Set lasagna on foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Discard foil covering lasagna and continue to bake until top layer of lasagna is spotty brown and lasagna is hot throughout, about 30 minutes longer. Let lasagna cool for 45 minutes. Slice and serve.

Poznámky

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS Fennel, onion, sage, garlic, fennel seeds, and pepper flakes pulsed together in a food processor gave the sauce a flavor boost. Slightly undercooking the noodles meant that they stayed firm when baked. To ensure full coverage in the bottom of the pan (and structural integrity), we cut two of the noodles in half. For the cheese, we relied on a combo of creamy mozzarella, flavorful provolone, and supersavory Pecorino Romano. Because ricotta cheese can turn gritty when baked, we opted for cottage cheese, which contains more moisture and so is more apt to stay pillowy-soft and creamy.

A 1-pound box of dry lasagna noodles should yield enough for this lasagna. Note that we call for grinding the Pecorino Romano in a food processor; you can use preground Pecorino Romano, if desired. To make quick work of shredding the mozzarella and provolone, use your processor’s shredding disk or the large holes of a box grater.

To Make Ahead At end of step 7, cover dish with greased aluminum foil and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. To serve, bake lasagna as directed in step 8, increasing covered baking time to 55 minutes.