Triple Cheesy -saucy-sausage Lasagna

Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins Preparation Time: 40 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 16 lasagna noodles, from a 16 oz. package (i use barilla)
• 1 onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 lb sweet italian sausage link, casings removed,crumbled
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
• 3/4 teaspoon dried italian seasoning, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 (26 ounce) jar marinara sauce (i use my mother's homemade recipe)
• 1 (32 ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese (i use polly-o)
• 1 (8 ounce) package shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese (i use polly-o)
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 375*f.
• 2 cook the noodles according to the package instructions; drain.
• 3 in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, cook the onion and sausage until the sausage is no longer pink, 6-8 minutes; drain the fat.
• 4 reduce the heat to medium; stir in the tomato paste, 1/2 tsp.
• 5 salt, 1/2 tsp.
• 6 garlic powder, 1/2 tsp.
• 7 italian seasoning, and 1/4 tsp.
• 8 pepper.
• 9 add the milk; cook, stirring, until thickened, about 3 minutes.
• 10 reserve 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce; stir the remainder into the skillet.
• 11 remove pan from heat.
• 12 combine the ricotta cheese, 1 cup of the mozzarella, parmesan cheese, egg, and the remaining salt, garlic powder, italian seasoning, and pepper.
• 13 spread 1/2 cup of the reserved marinara sauce in the bottom of an ungreased 13x9" baking dish; top with 4 whole noodles, 1/3 of the cheese mixture, and 1/3 of the sausage mixture.
• 14 repeat twice, ending with the noodles; top with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella.
• 15 cover the pan with foil.
• 16 **(at this point, i usually like to refrigerate the lasagna for about 1 hour to let the flavors blend--if you choose to do it this way, preheat the oven when you're ready to bake.)** bake until bubbly, 40 minutes; uncover the pan and bake 5-10 minutes longer.
• 17 serve hot.