For an ultraflavorful take on our classic Hearty Meat Lasagna, we replaced the meatloaf mix with savory Italian sausage and added broccoli rabe. We sautéed the sausage briefly with the aromatics, but didn’t let
it brown to avoid an unpleasant pebbly texture in the finished lasagna. Our major challenge was to find a way to prevent the broccoli rabe from turning army green and mushy. To resolve this, we cut the parboiling time in half, from 2 minutes to 1 minute, leaving us with still-crunchy broccoli rabe that then cooked to an ideal texture when we baked the lasagna. Broccoli cut into 1-inch pieces can be substituted for the broccoli rabe.
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 pound broccoli rabe, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped fine
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1½ pounds hot or sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
- 1 (28-ounce) can tomato puree
- 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
Lasagna
- 24 ounces (3 cups) whole-milk or part-skim ricotta cheese
- 3 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (1½ cups)
- ½ cup chopped fresh basil
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 12 no-boil lasagna noodles
- 1 pound whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded (4 cups)
How to Make It
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For the Sauce
- Bring 2 quarts water to boil in large pot. Fill large bowl halfway with ice and water. Add broccoli rabe and 1 tablespoon salt to boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 1 minute. Using slotted spoon, transfer broccoli rabe to ice water and let cool, about 2 minutes; drain and pat dry.
- Dry now-empty pot, add oil, and heat over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add sausage and cook, breaking up meat with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in broccoli rabe, tomato puree, and tomatoes, bring to simmer, and cook until flavors meld, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. For the Lasagna
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine ricotta, 1 cup Parmesan, basil, egg, salt, and pepper in bowl.
- Spread 1 cup sauce over bottom of 13 by 9-inch baking dish (avoiding large chunks of meat). Lay 3 noodles in dish, spread ⅓ cup ricotta mixture over each noodle, then top with 1 cup mozzarella and 1 cup sauce (in that order). Repeat layering process 2 more times. Top with remaining 3 noodles, remaining sauce, remaining 1 cup mozzarella, and remaining ½ cup Parmesan.
- Cover dish tightly with greased aluminum foil, place on foil-lined rimmed baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover, and continue to bake until spotty brown and bubbling around edges, 25 to 35 minutes. Let casserole cool for 10 minutes before serving.
