LASAGNA!!!!!

Need to cook for a crowd? Want them to be impressed? Don’t have a lot of time? Than this lasagna recipe is for YOU. It only takes about 20-25 minutes of easy prep (less if you multi-task), has yummy pepperonis in it and only bakes for 20 minutes and is ready to serve! Note: get the lasagna noodles that are not pre-cooked or oven-ready.

LASAGNA (SERVES 8-10)

2 pounds turkey sausage
1 24 or 28 oz jar spaghetti sauce (I like chunky vegetable)
1/2 cup water
2 eggs (beaten)
2 15oz cartons of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1.5 tbsp parsley flakes
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp pepper
1 box of uncooked lasagna
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 7oz jar sliced mushrooms & mushroom pieces
1 3.5oz pack sliced pepperoni

Put a large pot of water on the stove and turn heat to high to start heating up the water. If you want to save time, put the pasta in before you move on to step #2, since the pasta will need 10-12 minutes to cook.
Brown sausage and break up so that it’s crumbly, then drain.

I couldn’t find actual turkey sausage, so I used plain ground turkey and added extra Italian seasoning, garlic pepper & Tony Chachere’s seasoning. Hopefully you can just find turkey sausage!
Pour sausage into a bowl, add spaghetti sauce, water and mushrooms and mix together. Set aside.
In another bowl, beat eggs, add ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, oregano, and pepper and stir til blended. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Drain noodles, and then either leave in the colander or place back into pot for easy retrieval. Place the first layer of noodles into a 9×13 pan. My pan was rather narrow so only 3 fit in each layer but many pans can accommodate 4 noodles wide.
Put a couple spoonfuls of the cheese mix onto the noodles and spread evenly, followed by a generous scoop of the meat sauce. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over it and then add a few pepperonis (spaced a couple inches apart–you’ll want to pack them in when you get to the top layer).
Repeat layering of noodles, cheese, meat sauce, mozzarella cheese and pepperonis until all noodles are gone, then put all the remaining pepperonis on top.
Place lasagna on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, cover with foil to keep cheese from burning, and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes. If you have a convection oven like I do, you probably will only need 20 minutes of baking time total.
Remove from oven, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, then serve. So yum! I brought it plus my pull-it bread (recipe here) to my lovely friends Kaye & Jon’s house on move-in day for their first meal in their new home! Together with Jon’s parents, there were five of us pigging out (while my husband installed a ceiling fan because he doesn’t like lasagna). Both the bread and lasagna got many thumbs up! Love feeding a crowd 🙂