Journey Spice Co. Italian Sausage and kale lasagna

Italian Sausage and Kale Lasagna

This Italian Sausage and Kale Lasagna is the perfect comfort food any day of the week! Beyond the deliciously layered flavors in this recipe, it also incorporates nutrient-dense kale. If you are unfamiliar with adding kale to recipes, you should know that kale can be easily “hidden” in many recipes as it seems to incorporate well with many types of ingredients. This is a wonderful aspect of kale, especially when trying to please pickier palates and add more nutrients to the diet. We can say that this recipe is “kid-approved,” at least according to our picky kid. Also, like many recipes, you can easily make this plant-based or vegan-friendly by using plant-based sausage and cheese.

Prep Time: About 30 minutes

Cook/Bake Time: About an hour and 5 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. Journey Spice Co. Organic Tuscan Seasoning

1 Tbsp. Journey Spice Co. Organic Savory Garlic Herb

1 16 oz. package of lasagna noodles

1 jar of marinara sauce, about 25 oz.

1 lb. of Italian sausage (regular meat variety or plant-based)

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (regular dairy variety or plant-based)

1 ½ cups ricotta cheese (regular dairy variety or plant-based)

1 ½ cups baby bella mushrooms

1 red onion

1 large bunch of kale

Juice from 1 lemon

3 garlic cloves

1 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Cook the lasagna noodles according to the instructions on the package. We suggest cooking the whole package since a few may break during the cooking process. Drain the water after cooking. We recommend lightly tossing the noodles with a bit of extra virgin olive oil to prevent them from sticking together.
  3. Wash the kale, remove the leaves from the stems, and discard the stems. Thinly slice the kale.
  4. Wash the mushrooms. Slice the mushrooms, garlic cloves, and chop up the red onion. Set the red onion aside.
  5. In a large frying pan, add ½ Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, the kale, the mushrooms, lemon juice, garlic cloves, and sauté for 5 minutes over medium heat on your stove.
  6. Set aside 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Transfer the kale mixture into a medium-sized bowl and stir in the ricotta and mozzarella cheese.
  7. In a medium frying pan, combine the red onion and crumbled-up sausage and sauté for 8 minutes over medium heat. Add the Journey Spice Co. Organic Tuscan Seasoning and sauté for another 2 minutes.
  8. Set aside 1 ½ cups of the marinara sauce. Add the rest of the marinara sauce to the meat mixture.
  9. In a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, spread ½ cup of the marinara sauce.
  10. Lay down three of the noodles. Spread a thin layer of the meat sauce and a thin layer of the cheese-kale mixture. Lay down another three noodles. Repeat laying down a thin layer of meat and cheese-kale mixture until these ingredients have been used. Once you have the top layer of noodles placed, add the cup of marinara sauce you set aside and spread over the noodles evenly. Depending on your preference, Lasagna should typically use 3-5 layers of noodles.
  11. Cover the lasagna with foil and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, sprinkle on the cheese and the Journey Spice Co. Organic Savory Garlic Herb and bake uncovered for another 10 minutes.

Nutrition Per Serving (This is an estimate, and nutrition information will vary depending on ingredients used):

850 Calories

35g Fat

65g Carbs

7g Sugar

48g Protein

450mg Sodium

11g Fiber

Makes 6-8 Servings