Smoked Sausage Lasagna

Serves 6

• nonstick cooking spray
• 2 cups red pasta sauce
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
• 6 no-boil lasagna noodles
• 1/2 of 15 oz container ricotta cheese
• 6 oz Monterrey Jack cheese with jalapeno peppers or Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
• 8 oz smoked chicken sausage with apple, or Italian sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Lightly coat a 2 qt square baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.  In a medium bowl stir together the pasta sauce and the olives.  Spoon 1/3 cup of the sauce mixture in prepared dish.  Top with 2 lasagna noodles.  In a small bowl stir together the ricotta cheese and 1 cup of the Monterrey Jack cheese.  Spoon half the mixture on the noodles in the dish.  Sprinkle with 2 tbsp of the Parmesan.  Top with half the sausage and half the fennel.  Spoon half the remaining sauce over the sausage layer. 
2. Top with 2 more noodles, the remaining ricotta mixture, and the remaining sausage and fennel.  Add 2 more noodles and the remaining sauce.  Sprinkle with remaining Monterey Jack and Parmesan cheese. 
3. Cover with foil.  Bake for 50 minutes.  Let stand, covered, on a wire rack for 20 minutes before serving. 

Advertisements