Lasagna

My friends recently gave birth to their first child.  In an effort to alleviate some of the stress of bringing a child into the world, I thought I would make them some food which would last for a while.  Why not lasagna?  The last time I made lasagna, I was a kid helping out my mother.  I feel as though I should note right now that I am not Italian.  I looked around for different recipes and found one I wanted to try.  My husband then complained that I never make lasagna for him, so I came up with this concoction.  We like spice, and this has it!

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound spicy Italian sausage (out of the casing) 3/4 pound lean ground turkey 1/2 cup minced onion 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce dried basil leaves crushed red pepper cayenne pepper powder

Italian seasoning salt ground black pepper chopped parsley 12 lasagna noodles 16 ounces ricotta cheese 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a Dutch oven or sauce pan, cook sausage, ground turkey, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce. Season with basil, crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper powder, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and parsley to taste. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2.	Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4.	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 half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. 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.
5.	Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

  This was adapted from John Chandler’s recipe on www.allrecipes.com