Italian Sausage and Mushroom Lasagna with Bechamel Sauce

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Description

The bechamel adds a little something special to this wonderful lasagna. I like to use part skim ricotta and mozzarella and low-fat milk to cut some of the fat in this dish. You won’t notice the difference.

Ingredients

  • 1 serving cooking spray
  • ½ pound bulk mild Italian sausage
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups low-fat milk
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 pinch ground nutmeg
  • 1 egg
  • 1 (15 ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese
  • 1 tablespoon dried parsley
  • 2 (24 ounce) jars marinara sauce, divided
  • 1 (9 ounce) package no-boil lasagna noodles, divided
  • 1 cup chopped cremini mushrooms, divided
  • 1 (16 ounce) package shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
  2. Place the sausage in a skillet over medium heat and cook until browned and crumbly
  3. about 10 minutes. Drain the sausage and set aside.
  4. To make bechamel sauce
  5. melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk in the flour. Allow the flour and butter to cook until light and foamy
  6. about 2 minutes
  7. whisking constantly; whisk in milk
  8. a little at a time. Whisk in the salt and nutmeg and bring the sauce to a bare simmer
  9. whisking constantly until thickened
  10. about 10 minutes. Remove sauce from the heat and set aside.
  11. In a bowl
  12. beat the egg and stir in the ricotta cheese and parsley until thoroughly combined.
  13. To assemble lasagna
  14. pour about 1 1/2 cup of marinara sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish and top the sauce with 4 lasagna noodles
  15. overlapping if necessary. On the noodles
  16. layer 1/3 of the ricotta mixture
  17. followed by 1/3 of the cooked sausage
  18. 1/3 cup of mushrooms
  19. 1/4 of the bechamel sauce
  20. 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese
  21. 1/8 cup of the Parmesan cheese and 1 more cup of marinara sauce. Repeat the layers twice more
  22. ending with a final layer of noodles topped with a layer of marinara sauce
  23. bechamel sauce
  24. the remaining mozzarella cheese
  25. and remaining Parmesan cheese. Cover the dish with foil.
  26. Bake in the preheated oven until bubbly and the noodles are tender
  27. about 1 hour. Remove foil and bake until the top cheese layer is browned
  28. about 5 more minutes. Allow the lasagna to stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 1 hr 25 mins

Total Time: 2 hrs 5 mins

Servings: 12

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