Creamy Ricotta Lasagna

Welcome to the ultimate guide for crafting a truly exceptional Lasagna with Ricotta Cheese and Sausage. This isn’t just any pasta dish; it’s a celebration of rich flavors, creamy textures, and heartwarming comfort, making it the perfect centerpiece for any family dinner or festive gathering. Imagine layers of perfectly cooked lasagna noodles, generously slathered with a slow-simmered, savory tomato sauce infused with the robust flavor of Italian sausage, all harmoniously blended with the sweet, delicate creaminess of ricotta cheese and abundant, gooey mozzarella. This classic Italian-American masterpiece promises a culinary experience that will be adored by everyone at your table.

Our recipe transforms simple ingredients into an extraordinary meal, distinguishing itself with a depth of flavor that comes from carefully selected components and traditional cooking techniques. The subtle kick from mild Italian sausage elevates the slow-cooked tomato sauce, creating an irresistible foundation. Each forkful delivers a perfect balance of savory meat, tangy tomato, and a trio of cheeses that melt into a symphony of taste and texture. Get ready to discover why this particular Ricotta Lasagna recipe is destined to become a staple in your kitchen.

Why This Ricotta and Sausage Lasagna is a Must-Try

For many, lasagna evokes cherished memories of family meals and comforting traditions. My own upbringing featured a version made with cottage cheese, a common practice in the Midwest when authentic ricotta was a rarity. Accessing an Italian market often meant a significant journey, a luxury not easily afforded with four young girls at home. However, as culinary horizons expanded, so did the appreciation for the unparalleled creaminess and delicate flavor that genuine ricotta cheese brings to lasagna. If you’ve never experienced lasagna made with ricotta, prepare for a revelation.

• Unmatched Creaminess with Ricotta: Unlike the slightly granular texture of cottage cheese, ricotta offers a smooth, luscious layer that enriches every bite, creating a truly melt-in-your-mouth experience. This recipe highlights the superiority of ricotta, making it the perfect introduction for first-timers.
• Depth of Flavor from Italian Sausage: The addition of Italian sausage isn’t just about adding meat; it’s about infusing the entire sauce with a complex, savory, and subtly spiced character. Whether you opt for mild or spicy, the sausage elevates the tomato base, creating a foundation of robust flavor that permeates the entire dish.
• Irresistibly Cheesy Layers: Let’s be honest, who can resist a pasta dish overflowing with gooey, melted cheese? This recipe ensures an abundance of mozzarella, providing that satisfying, stretchy, cheesy pull that makes lasagna so universally beloved. Coupled with the ricotta, it creates a rich dairy medley that is pure bliss.
• A Crowd-Pleasing Comfort Food: Lasagna is the quintessential comfort food, perfect for feeding a hungry crowd or providing satisfying leftovers. Its layered complexity makes it feel special, yet the preparation is surprisingly straightforward, especially with our expert tips. It’s a dish that embodies warmth, tradition, and pure culinary satisfaction.

Essential Ingredients for Your Perfect Lasagna

While there are countless variations of lasagna, building the best version starts with selecting quality ingredients. For this exquisite ricotta and sausage lasagna, here’s what you’ll need to add to your shopping list, along with some insights into why each component is crucial:

• Italian Sausage: This is a star player, offering deep, savory notes and a hint of spice. You can choose mild or spicy, depending on your heat preference. The key to unlocking its full potential lies in browning it thoroughly before adding it to the sauce. This process initiates the Maillard reaction—a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars—which creates hundreds of new flavor compounds, resulting in that irresistible umami, or savory depth, that transforms the overall dish. Browning the sausage also ensures it’s cooked through and breaks down any larger pieces, distributing its flavor evenly throughout the sauce.
• Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese: Opting for whole milk ricotta is a game-changer. Its higher fat content contributes to a significantly creamier, richer, and more luxurious texture in the finished lasagna. The difference in mouthfeel and flavor compared to part-skim ricotta is noticeable, making it well worth the choice for a truly indulgent experience. This soft, fresh cheese provides a delicate contrast to the robust sauce and gooey mozzarella.
• Lasagna Noodles: The foundation of your lasagna! You have a couple of options here. If you prefer the convenience of no-boil lasagna noodles, ensure your sauce is sufficiently liquid, as these noodles absorb moisture directly from the sauce to soften during baking. If you’re using traditional dried lasagna noodles, boil them al dente according to package directions in generously salted water. The cooking water should taste like seawater—this is crucial for seasoning the noodles from within. Noodles seasoned after cooking will never achieve the same depth of flavor. Properly cooked noodles are essential for the lasagna’s structure and texture, providing a tender bite without being mushy.
• Rich Tomato Sauce: A high-quality tomato sauce is the soul of your lasagna. Using a combination of crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste provides a balanced texture and concentrated flavor. Slow-cooking the sauce allows all the ingredients to meld beautifully, creating a deep, complex base that will coat every layer. Ingredients like onion, garlic, oregano, thyme, and a bay leaf are vital for building this flavor profile.
• Gooey Mozzarella Cheese: For that signature stretchy, melty cheese pull, mozzarella is indispensable. Whether you choose pre-shredded or grate your own from a block, ensure you have plenty. Low-moisture mozzarella works best for melting evenly without adding excess water to the lasagna. Its mild, milky flavor perfectly complements the other rich components.

The Versatility of Ricotta Cheese

While often associated with lasagna, ricotta cheese is an incredibly versatile ingredient. Though making homemade ricotta is a rewarding process and surprisingly easy with just a few ingredients, it’s also readily available and convenient to purchase at most grocery stores. Beyond lasagna, ricotta’s creamy texture and mild flavor make it ideal for a variety of culinary applications:

• Pasta Dishes: A classic for stuffed shells and manicotti, where it provides a delightful, creamy filling.
• Pizzas: Dollop spoonfuls of ricotta onto pizza before baking for pockets of creamy deliciousness.
• Spreads and Dips: It can be used as a lighter, tangier alternative to cream cheese on toast or as a base for savory dips.
• Soups: A dollop of ricotta adds a luxurious, creamy finish to many soups and stews.
• Desserts: From cheesecakes to cannoli, ricotta is a star in many sweet treats, offering a unique texture and delicate flavor.

Expert Tips for Lasagna Mastery

Crafting the perfect lasagna involves a few key techniques and considerations that can significantly elevate your dish:

• Maximize Sausage Flavor with Maillard Reaction: As mentioned in the ingredient notes, the browning of Italian sausage is not just for cooking it through; it’s a critical step for flavor development. Whether you’re using bulk sausage or sliced links, ensure it gets a good sear and develops a rich, browned crust. This Maillard reaction creates complex, savory notes that will permeate your entire sauce, making every bite of lasagna incredibly flavorful. Don’t rush this step—it’s worth the extra few minutes.
• Consider Sausage Presentation: If you have family members who prefer to pick around meat, using sliced Italian sausage links can be an excellent strategy. The distinct slices are easier to navigate than crumbled bulk sausage, allowing everyone to enjoy the lasagna exactly how they prefer, while still contributing deep flavor to the sauce.
• The Art of Sauce Simmering: A truly exceptional lasagna begins with an exceptional sauce. Simmering your tomato sauce for at least 2-3 hours (or even longer) allows the flavors to meld and deepen, transforming simple ingredients into a rich, complex foundation. This slow cooking process extracts the best from your tomatoes, herbs, and spices, resulting in a sauce that is far more flavorful than one quickly prepared. Crushed tomatoes generally yield a sauce with a desirable consistency – thick enough to cling to noodles but not overly chunky.
• Whole Milk Ricotta Application: Whole milk ricotta, while superior in flavor and texture, can be tricky to spread smoothly over the sauce. Instead of attempting to spread it evenly, try dropping spoonfuls of ricotta across each layer of sauce. This ensures pockets of creamy cheese throughout the lasagna, providing a delightful burst of flavor and moisture with every bite.
• Baking to Perfection: Always bake your lasagna covered with greased or non-stick foil for the majority of the baking time. This traps moisture, ensuring the noodles cook thoroughly and the lasagna doesn’t dry out. For the last 15-20 minutes, remove the foil. If you desire a beautifully browned, bubbly cheese topping, you can briefly broil it for a couple of minutes, keeping a close eye on it to prevent burning. Alternatively, the residual heat of the oven after removing the foil will often achieve a lovely golden crust.
• PRO-Tip for a Vegetarian Lasagna with Spinach: If you’re looking for a delightful meatless option, or a vibrant Lasagna with Spinach, simply omit the Italian sausage. To create a flavorful spinach-ricotta mixture, combine one defrosted and thoroughly squeezed-dry 9-ounce box of frozen chopped spinach with your ricotta cheese, one egg, ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon dried basil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. This mixture can then be layered in place of the plain ricotta, adding both flavor and nutrition.

Frequently Asked Questions About Lasagna

You May Also Enjoy These Related Recipes

If you loved this lasagna, you might want to explore other hearty pasta and Italian-inspired dishes:

• Sausage Pepper Mushroom Fettuccine
• Classic Italian Meat Sauce
• Easy Spinach Lasagna
• Straw and Hay Pasta
• More Pasta Recipes

The Recipe:

Ricotta Lasagna with Italian Sausage

Prep Time
30 minutes

Cook Time
3 hours

Total Time
3 hours 30 minutes

Yield
8 servings

A fabulous lasagna with flavorful sauce, dabs of ricotta cheese, mild Italian sausage plus gooey mozzarella!

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 16-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons oregano
• ¼ teaspoon thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 stalk of celery, cut in half
• 2 cups water
• 4 links Italian sausage (1½-2 pounds), sliced and cooked
• 1 pound ricotta cheese
• 1 ½ pounds mozzarella, grated
• 8 ounces lasagna noodles, soaked in warm water for about an hour or no-boil lasagna noodles

Instructions

1. In a large pan, sauté onion in olive oil until translucent. Add minced garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.
2. Add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, salt, oregano, thyme, bay leaf, celery stalk, and water to the pan. Stir to combine.
3. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer, then reduce heat to low and let it simmer for 2-3 hours. Stir occasionally. Remove the celery stalk and bay leaf before assembling the lasagna.
4. Prepare the lasagna noodles: If using dried noodles, soak them in warm water for about an hour until pliable; this method eliminates the need for pre-boiling. Alternatively, use no-boil lasagna noodles directly.
5. While the sauce simmers, cook the Italian sausage in a separate sauté pan until thoroughly browned on both sides and cooked through. Drain any excess fat. Add the cooked sausage (sliced or crumbled) to the simmering tomato sauce.
6. Preheat your oven to 350ºF (175°C). Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Spread a thin layer of sauce (without sausage pieces) on the bottom of the dish to prevent noodles from sticking.
7. Begin layering: Place half of the prepared lasagna noodles over the sauce. Top with half of the remaining sauce (with sausage), then dollop half of the ricotta cheese over the sauce, and finally, sprinkle with half of the grated mozzarella cheese.
8. Repeat the layering process: Add the remaining noodles, followed by the rest of the sauce, ricotta, and finally, the remaining mozzarella cheese.
9. Cover the baking dish tightly with a piece of greased foil or non-stick foil.
10. Bake for 1 hour. If you desire a golden-brown, bubbly cheese topping, remove the foil for the last 15 minutes of baking, or briefly broil for 2-3 minutes (watch carefully to prevent burning).
11. Once baked, allow the lasagna to cool for about 15 minutes before cutting and serving. This resting period helps the layers set, making it easier to slice neatly.

Notes

Lasagna is an excellent dish for meal prepping. It can be fully assembled and frozen unbaked, then baked directly from the freezer. If baking from frozen, extend the baking time to approximately 1 ½ hours, or until thoroughly heated through, ensuring it’s covered for the initial baking period. Remove foil for the last 15-20 minutes to brown the cheese. This recipe is adapted from Creme de Colorado.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 627Total Fat: 38gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 106mgSodium: 1404mgCarbohydrates: 35gFiber: 5gSugar: 13gProtein: 38g

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