Updated March 1, 2020
A casserole with no rules
Jump to RecipeThis rustic and homey baked lasagne casserole echoes my friend Evelyns love of vegetables and has all the great flavours of lasagne that we know and love. I choose the veggies that I prefer on pizza and to me that gives the best of both worlds. By all means use any of your favourite vegetables just like Evelyn does.
How do I cook fusilli?
Instead of using sheets of flat lasagne pasta we’re using fusilli noodles. This is a twisted short cut noodle that retains sauce very well. Rotini which is similar can also be used. Cooking the pasta is simple. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fusilli and cook for 7-10 minutes. The pasta should be tender and firm to the bite. Save ½ cup of the pasta water.
Decase the sausage.
In this recipe we want the sausage more like the consistency of ground pork. So we need to decase the sausages. It’s as easy as one, two, three! All you have to do is take a sharp knife and cut the casing down the length of the sausage. Peel the casing from around the meat leaving it intact. Discard the casing. Break the sausage into pieces and as you cook you can break it down even more.
Let’s make a casserole
You will need a large sauté pan with deep sides to cook the mixture. The first step is to sauté the vegetables with the oregano and set aside. Next add cook the sausage. When the sausage is just starting to brown, if you end up with a lot of fat, drain it off or it might end up a bit greasy. At this point add the stewing tomatoes, basil, tomato paste and the ½ cup of water reserved from the pasta. Break up the tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes.
After simmering for 10 minutes, add the vegetables and pasta back into the pan. Stir the mixture well, and combine with 1 cup of the grated mozzarella.
The cottage cheese, egg and spinach have to be mixed together. This will be a layer that goes between the meat/veggie mixture. So in a bowl, whisk the egg, and combine it with the cottage cheese and chopped spinach.
Build & bake the casserole
Now that everything is prepped, we can put it all together. We use a 9 inch x 12 inch oven proof pan. Layer half of the meat and vegetable mixture in the pan, add the cottage cheese mixture as a layer on top and finally add the other half of the meat and veg. mixture.
Bake at 375℉ for 20 minutes uncovered remove it from the oven and sprinkle with the remaining grated mozzarella. Return it to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
It’s going to be really hot, so let it stand for 5 minutes before serving, if you can wait that long.
Evelyns Baked Lasagne Casserole
Equipment
- large sauté pan
- 9" x 12" ovenproof baking pan
Ingredients
- ½ lb fusilli pasta
- 2 cups mushrooms chopped
- ½ cup red peppers chopped
- ½ cup green peppers chopped
- 1 cup cooking onions chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves minced
- 1½ tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 lb Italian sausage approx. 3-4
- 1 med tomato diced
- 2 tbsp fresh basil
- 1 28oz can stewed tomato preferably San Marzano
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- ½ cup water
- pinch salt and pepper
- 1 egg
- 1 16 oz cottage cheese
- 3 tsp fresh parsley
- pinch salt and pepper
- ¼ cup parmesan reggiano grated
- 1 cup packed baby spinach stemmed & chopped
- 2 cups mozzarella divided in half
Instructions
- Cook pasta al dente in salted water. Drain and rinse in cold water.
- Sauté vegetables and oregano in 1½ tbsp vegetable oil. Set aside.
- De-case sausage and fry until it is starting to brown, drain off any fat. Add fresh tomato, basil, stewed tomatoes, tomato paste and water. Simmer for 10 minutes, breaking up tomatoes.Add vegetables and pasta, stir well. Add 1 cup grated mozzarella and mix well.
- In a bowl, mix egg, cottage cheese, parmesan and spinach. Stir well.
- In a 9" x 12" pan, layer ½ of the meat/pasta mixture. Add all of the cottage cheese mixture and finish with the remaining meat/pasta mixture.Cook at 375℉ for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle with the remaining cup of grated mozzarella. Return to the oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and mixture is bubbling. Let stand for 5 minutes, cut into squares and serve.
Versatile and delicious
So if you’re craving lasagne, but looking for a something with a bit of a twist, this might just be the meal for you. Versatile and delicious, follow the recipe or change the veggies to your own taste preferences. It’s definitely a recipe worth sharing.
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