Fresh Mozzarella, Sausage & Spinach Lasagna with Alfredo & Tomato Sauce

I couldn’t come up with a name for this Lasagna after creating the recipe. I still have not figured out what to call it so describing it works.. so there ya go! Please take a moment to grab a napkin, you will need to wipe up your drool after this. Ready? If you have a garden, run outside and grab a bit of parsley & basil…. it’s okay… I’ll wait…

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1. Start this recipe by turning on your oven to 350f and preparing a glass dish for the lasagna. (I used an olive oil pam spray)

2. It’s alfredo making time. In a sauce pan, melt 2 tbsps of butter. Once melted, pour in the 1 cup of heavy cream and stir for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, add in the parmesan cheese and whisk until melted. Add in the parsley, salt & pepper to taste. Pour mixture into the bottom of the glass dish.

3. Place a layer of uncooked noodles on top of the alfredo mixture and let’s start the next step. Let’s cook the meat! Are you ready for this?

I used Morning Star Sausage Crumbles because well, my husband is a vegetarian. To me, these crumbles are delicious and you would never notice they weren’t real meat for those of us (like me) who enjoy some meaty, hearty dishes.

4. Cook either the crumbles or the ground italian sausage until browned & done. When meat is done, mix about 1/2 cup of your pasta sauce in with the meat and pour on top of the noodle layer to make the next layer for the lasagna. So far it’s the alfredo on the bottom, a layer of noodles, meat mixture on top. Now place another layer of noodles and let’s work on the final layer before baking this bad boy.

5. Take the uncooked spinach & basil and cook in a pan with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp of water. I just cooked it for about 2 minutes until it was really skinny and mushy. Put the spinach mixture on top of the uncooked noodles and sprinkle 1-2 cups of mozzarella on top of the spinach. Add the final layer of noodles… and finish off with the rest of the sauce. I also like to drizzle a little olive oil on top of the sauce.

6. The final step in this lasagna is to add the mozzarella pearls/cherry sized pieces.

Place them in whatever order you’d like on top of the pasta sauce, like above.

7. Cover tightly with foil & bake Lasagna at 350f for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove foil and bake an additional 15-20 minutes until mozzarella gets toasty and bubbly.

When the lasagna is done, it will look similar to this and have you drooling at the mouth.

What completes this meal is an amazing garlic bread. I had sourdough loaf that I cut into slices, placed each slice on a pan and spread margarine (or butter) on top. Drizzle the butter with some olive oil (don’t skip this step!) & then sprinkle with garlic powder (not garlic salt!), and finish off with some pepper.

Bake at 350f for 10-15 minutes until toasty.

If I had to compare this garlic bread to anything, I would say it reminds me of the garlic bread served at a delicious italian restaurant called Pietro’s.

Enjoy! This is definitely a recipe you’ll want to make over and over again.

You will need:
1 cup Spinach (fresh is best)
3 sprigs of fresh parsley (or 1 tsp of dried parsley)
3 basil leaves (or 1 tsp of dried basil) optional
1 1/2 cups of parmesan cheese
2 cups of shredded mozzarella
Fresh Mozzarella Pearls (or cherry sized balls, if no luck, you can just cut the fresh mozz in circles) * can be found in the deli area or where the gourmet cheeses are.
1 pkg of Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce (I used Marinara)
1 lb of ground italian sausage
2 tbsp butter (or margarine)
1 cup of heavy cream (whole milk would work, not as creamy however)
salt & pepper to taste

For the bread:
Sourdough Loaf
Butter
Garlic Powder
Pepper

Hubby gave this a 10! That’s big time folks.