Winter White Lasagna (Rachael Ray)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 1/2 pounds sweet Italian chicken sausage, removed form the casing (see tip below)
1 pound button mushrooms, sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
2 cups chicken stock
A generous dash fresh nutmeg
1 box oven-ready lasagna noodles
4 cups shredded Italian Four Cheese blend

Preheat oven to 375F.

Place a large skillet over medium high heat with EVOO, about 2 turns of pan. Add the sausage to the pan and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until the meat is crumbled and golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook until golden brown, 5-6 minutes. Season the mixture with salt and freshly ground pepper and reserve.

While the meat is browning up, place a large saucepan over medium heat and melt the butter. Sprinkle the flour over the butter and cook it for about 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and chicken stock and bring the sauce up to a bubble. Add in the nutmeg and season it with salt and freshly ground pepper , then simmer until the sauce thickens, 3-4 minutes.

Assemble the lasagna by ladling a small amount (about 1/2 cup, just eyeball it) of the sauce into the bottom of a 13x9" baking dish. Lay three of the lasagna noodles over the sauce and top them with about 1/3 of the meat-mushroom mixture. Top with about 1 cup of sauce and about 1 cup of shredded cheese (about 2 generous handfuls). Make two more layers of the lasagna using three lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the meat-mushroom mixture, 1 cup of sauce and 1 cup shredded cheese for each layer. Top the lasagna with the last three noodles, remaining sauce and remaining shredded cheese.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.

* This is such a super yummy change from regular lasagna! My whole (extended) family loves it when I make it!

* You can find chicken sausage at Kroger in the meat case. They have a couple different kinds that work for this recipe - Tomato Basil & Italian. They sometimes have it in their discount meat section, which saves you a lot of money, so definitely check there, but make sure you use the sausage within a day or so because it can go bad fast!

Lazy Lasagna

29 oz Spaghetti Sauce
½ lb lasagna noodles
16 cottage cheese mixed with 8 oz plain yogurt
½ cup grate parm cheese
8 oz mozzarella cheese

Spread 1 cup spagh sauce in 9x13 pan. Layer 1/3 noodles, cottage cheese mix, mozz. Cheese, parm cheese. Repeat twice and cover with sauce. Pour ¼ - 1/3 cup water around the edge. Cover with foil and cook for 1hr 15 min at 350 degrees. Remove foil and then cook an additional 30 more minutes.