0 0Tomato Sauce: 1lb. Italian sausage* 0head roasted garlic**, chopped 1cchopped onion 1croasted bell peppers, chopped (I use the Manzini peppers) 1ceggplant, peeled and chopped (trust me, you’ll like it) 1czucchini, chopped 1csummer squash, chopped 1cbroccoli flowers, chopped 1cbutton mushrooms, chopped or sliced 1cshitake mushrooms, chopped or sliced 0cblack olives, chopped 1med. can tomato sauce, or 1 cup homemade tomato sauce 1med. can diced tomatoes, or 1 cup home grown diced tomatoes, fresh or frozen 2tsp. dried basil 1tsp. dried oregano 0dashsalt, optional 0tsp. pepper (I use a peppercorn blend that has whole allspice—yummy) 1tbsp., or to taste, SRIRACHA HOT PEPPER SAUCE (don’t be scared, it’s not very spicy when used moderately and tasts great) 0tsp. fennel seed, vegetarian version only 0Cheese Filling: 1beaten egg 1ccottage cheese 1cricotta cheese 0cgrated Parmesan or Romano cheese 1tbsp. dried parsley flakes 0Other Ingredients: 6lasagna noodles, UNCOOKED 0lots of shredded mozzarella 0try other veggies in the tomato sauce, if you like--shredded carrot, chopped spinach, be creative! 0Tomato Sauce: 1lb. Italian sausage* 0head roasted garlic**, chopped 1cchopped onion 1croasted bell peppers, chopped (I use the Manzini peppers) 1ceggplant, peeled and chopped (trust me, you’ll like it) 1czucchini, chopped 1csummer squash, chopped 1cbroccoli flowers, chopped 1cbutton mushrooms, chopped or sliced 1cshitake mushrooms, chopped or sliced 0cblack olives, chopped 1med. can tomato sauce, or 1 cup homemade tomato sauce 1med. can diced tomatoes, or 1 cup home grown diced tomatoes, fresh or frozen 2tsp. dried basil 1tsp. dried oregano 0dashsalt, optional 0tsp. pepper (I use a peppercorn blend that has whole allspice—yummy) 1tbsp., or to taste, SRIRACHA HOT PEPPER SAUCE (don’t be scared, it’s not very spicy when used moderately and tasts great) 0tsp. fennel seed, vegetarian version only 0Cheese Filling: 1beaten egg 1ccottage cheese 1cricotta cheese 0cgrated Parmesan or Romano cheese 1tbsp. dried parsley flakes 0Other Ingredients: 6lasagna noodles, UNCOOKED 0lots of shredded mozzarella 0try other veggies in the tomato sauce, if you like--shredded carrot, chopped spinach, be creative! To Make Tomato Sauce: Brown Italian sausage over med. heat, rinse once if very oily, add all of the veggies, tomatoes, and spices, taste test, add more stuff if you want, then cover and simmer for ½ an hour, stirring often.

To Make Cheese Filling: Combine in med. size bowl egg, cheeses and parsley

To Cook Noodles: DON’T. This is what makes this recipe easier! When you use uncooked noodles, they cook in the oven, absorbing all the water and liquids from the tomato sauce and cheese mixture. When you’re done, your lasagna has no runny sauce leaking out of the layers and the noodles have absorbed some of the flavor of the sauce. It’s good.

To Layer and Cook Lasagna: (preheat oven to 375º) Put down a thin layer of sauce on bottom of casserole pan. Put three noodles down, side by side, breaking them if you have to in order to get full coverage. Cover with half of the tomato sauce, then half of the cheese filling. Put down the other three noodles, the rest of the sauce and cheese, and cover with a thick layer of shredded mozzarella. Cook for 30-35 min. Check and make sure the noodles are cooked. When done, take out of oven and let stand 10 min. Serves 4-6, depending on how many side dishes you serve with it.

To Make Ahead: Prepare as above, assemble the lasagna and instead of cooking it, cover tightly and put in fridge for up to 24 hours. To cook, cover with foil and bake at 375º for 35 min. Remove foil and bake another 20 min or until bubbly. Let stand for 10 min.

*for the carnivores, if you don’t have Italian sausage, get some. In a pinch you can use ground beef and add ½ tsp. fennel to sauce with other seasonings, but it’s just not the same. The sweet Italian sausage is my favorite.

**Roast the garlic before you start chopping up the veggies and making the sauce. I roast mine in a terra cotta pot that has instructions on the box it came in on how to roast it. In case you don’t have this, take the head and keeping all the cloves together, peel off as much of the papery skin on the outside as you can, cut off the tips of the cloves, drizzle with ¼ tsp. olive oil, sprinkle with a little salt, pepper, thyme, and put a thin slice of butter on top. Put in a covered ceramic container, like a casserole dish into a cold oven and turn the oven up to 300º. I don’t like to wrap it in aluminum foil; I think it changes the flavor towards metallic. Let it bake, covered, for 30 min. then let it bake for 20 min. uncovered. Take out of oven and let cool