Has anyone made this lasagna from BA?

[Linda in MO]

I'm making lasagna for Christmas dinner and was wondering if anyone's tried the Three Cheese Lasagna with Italian Sausage from Bon Appetit? It has gotten wonderful reviews, but I would love to know if any of you guys have tried it?
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/3152

[veschke]

I did once (lasagna is something I make maybe once a year). As I recall, it was good -- on the heavy side for me, but I chose it because I had some hearty eaters to feed, and there were no leftovers.

[annagins]

Linda, I've made that one. It's very good. I did lighten it up a bit, though.

[Linda in MO]

Thanks guys! A lot of the reviewers doubled the sauce, did you guys? Anna, do you remember how you lightened it? I'm going to use turkey sausage and probably low-fat ricotta, but I'm not sure if I'll lighten it further. Also, what kind of lasagna noodles did you guys use? I have some Barilla no-boil lasagna but I'm kind of nervous to use them, since I've never used them before.

[annagins]

Linda, I think I used regular lasagna noodles, however I don't see why the no-boil kind wouldn't work. To lighten, I used turkey Italian sausage, non-fat ricotta and about half the mozzarella cheese. The recipe as written has TONS of each. It was just fine with half. You could probably even quarter it.

[Gracie]

Linda I always use no-boils. I am NEVER going back to any other kind. They cook up light as if they were homemade. No more heavy chewy doughy curly noodles.

Some brands of no-boils may say to moisten them before putting them in the lasagna but I have never done that no matter what brand I've used. I just lay them in and layer over them. You do have to be careful when layering because ricotta doesn't spread that well and these noodles break easily.

On the other hand, they break easily so you can fit one complete one and one partial one to the exact size of your pan.

You'll love them!

Loren

[swquilts]

I'm with Loren, I use the no boil all the time with no problems!

[Linda in MO]

One more question about the no-boil lasagna noodles...the recipe calls for 15 noodles/12 oz. Do you use the exact same amount of no-boil noodles? My box is 9 oz. Should I get another box?
Oh also, can this be made the day before? Or will it change the noodles in some way?

[Gracie]

Yes you should definitely get another box, if not two. They never go bad if you have extra. Somehow I always seem to need to break some to cover the entire pan then you have small pieces.

And it's fine to make the lasagna the day before.

let us know how you like them!

Loren

[brownie12]

Do you use additional sauce if the recipe doesn't call for the no boil noodles?

[blazedog]

Using less of the no boil lasagna noodles is an excellent way of lightening up.

I've made a bunch of CL lasagna recipes with Barilla noodles in a 9 x 13 pan and they generally only use less than the box. You don't completely interlay as you would with a traditional lasagna but they do swell as they cook. At any rate I had no problems and actually enjoyed the lasagnas with less noodle. A 9 x 13 pan is not a large lasagna -- or at least not where I'm from where lasagnas are made in HUGE pans. As I recall 3 or 4 on the bottom and 3 for each layer worked great.

I do make sure to put sauce on the bottom before the initial pasta layer. I also think it's quite helpful to make in advance so the pasta absorbs liquid before being cooked.

The recipe looks good as the sauce looks like it would work well. I would definitely add wine to the sauce though -- Per Alton, wine releases a flavor in tomatoes:D Didn't know that but I never made tomato sauce without wine.

I wouldn't go with a fat free ricotta in any event as I've found it really doesn't produce a good result -- part skim is good though.

[drloverde]

This recipe was a HIT!!!! I used Boca sausages (veggie) and Morningstar Farms Crumble (veggie for beef) and it was a huge hit!!! I used the no boil noodles and used 27 of them (3 per row - three rows per level). It was just wonderful - a few of the nine people eating it had thirds!!!

Dena.