Spicy Sausage Slow-Cooker Lasagna for Project Sam {Webisode #54}
What’s Going on Today: Gearing up to get back in the swing of things with school, work and life!
Naptime Goals: Finish putting away Christmas decorations, make slow-cooker lasagna, test some book recipes.
Tonight’s Menu: Spicy Sausage Lasagna, Arugula salad
Parenting Lesson of the Day: Children need their routines, too.
My friend Sam is the manager of the JMcLaughlin Westport store. She is also the mom of two girls under the age of four and is a total foodie. Sam and I spent a lot of time meeting last fall about the exciting things for the JMcLaughlin Westport launch and every conversation we had led to cooking. Sam’s mom is an excellent home cook and Sam wants to replicate those meals in her own home. The only problem is that she lacks the time to cook a lot given her very full-time job. In hopes of cooking more Sam treated herself to a slow-cooker this winter. It is a great solution for working parents and she is excited to start using it. Once I heard about this I, naturally, jumped in with a few recipe ideas and Project Sam was born. This winter I’ll be testing new slow-cooker recipes for Sam (I put everything together while my daughter is at school) and then sending them off to her. It will be fun to revisit some of my favorites and develop new ones as well. Sam and I are both excited for the project to begin.
Knowing that Sam has two daughters around the age of my own, I asked my own daughter what recipe she would like me to make, reasoning Sam’s daughters would feel the same way, and she voted for “noodle lasagna.” At first I hesitated, I wanted give Sam something really gourmet, but then I realized the lasagna can be gourmet. It is also perfect for cold weather and is a great first dish for breaking in her slow-cooker. To give mine a delicious twist I used spicy sausages I got from my local organic butcher. He always makes sausages fresh with amazing ingredients. These particular ones had cheese, spinach and sweet spices. I also used crushed tomatoes instead of jarred spaghetti sauce and seasoned it well. I much prefer the taste of canned tomatoes in winter then most off-the-shelf spaghetti sauces.
As you’ll see above, my daughter went down for an early nap on a particularly gloomy day and I assembled the lasagna in the slow-cooker. The beauty of this process is that there is no need to cook the noodles, that all happens in the machine! I turned it on around 2pm and left it to cook on low heat all afternoon. Sam could assemble the lasagna in the morning, or the night before, and set the timer to turn on at 2pm. To say the aroma in the kitchen was amazing is an understatement. I never grew up with an Italian grandmother, but if I had this is what her house would’ve smelled like. Around 6pm I lifted the lid and breathed deep. The lasagna was perfectly cooked and even more delicious to eat. I am sending this recipe off to Sam today, let’s hope she reports back that her family enjoys it as much as we did.
Recipe
Spicy Sausages Slow-Cooker Lasagna
Ingredients
| 1 | pound spicy sausages, casings removed |
| 1 | small yellow onion |
| 2 | tablespoons olive oil |
| 28 | ounces crushed tomatoes with juices |
| 15 | ounces part-skim ricotta |
| 2 | cups mozzarella, shredded |
| 1 | cup Parmesan cheese |
| 12 | lasagna noodles |
Kosher salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
1. In a large saute pan over medium heat add the olive oil, onion and sausage. Cook over medium heat until the onions are cooked through and the meat is no longer pink. About 10 minutes. Then pour in the crushed tomatoes and allow them to simmer until the mixture is slightly thickened.
2. Meanwhile, mix together the ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan in a large bowl and add a few pinches of salt and pepper to taste.
3. When the sausage mixture is slightly thickened place one quarter of it on the bottom of the slow-cooker. Then place about 2 to 3 noodles on the bottom, breaking them as needed to fit the shape of the slow-cooker pot. Top this with one half of the cheese mixture and one quarter of the sausage mixture. Then add more noodles and another layer of cheese and sausage. Finally, top with another layer of noodles and pour the remaining one quarter of the tomato mixture on top of the noodles. Turn the slow-cooker to low heat and cook for 4 to 6 hours, or until the noodles are completely cooked.
Naptime Notes
Naptime Recipe Serving ideas
A classic pasta dish like this pairs well with garlic bread and salad. I often scoop out the lasagna to serve and place anything remaining straight in the fridge in the crock pot dish until the next day.
Naptime Stopwatch
25 minutes to prepare!
Naptime Reviews
This was a hit with our family, it is a foodie dish that is kid-friendly!
This looks great! Can’t wait to try it in the crock pot 🙂
Looks delicious! Curious…do you use regular lasagna noodles or the no-boil variety? Thanks!
Hi Amy, I use regular lasagna noodles. They cook for so long that they absorb the liquid from the sauce and are completely cooked after 4 hours!
Keep the slow cooker recipes coming!! I can’t wait to try this one 🙂
Your daughter was very smart to choose this lasagna – looks wonderful! xo
[…] Great Slow-Cooker Recipes from Project Sam: Spicy Sausage Slow-Cooker Lasagna, Slow-Cooker Short Ribs […]
The Real Sam Likes! I have decided what’s best for Sam and her husband… is best for kids.. and it was great.
[…] glaze that coats the meat after it’s been braising for hours. I also knew this would be an ideal dish for Project Sam, my foodie-mama friend who wants to get better at using her slow-cooker this […]
For some reason I can’t watch the video. Â I’m wondering what size slow cooker you used for this recipe? Â I believe mine is a 6.5 qt oval and I’m wondering if I should consider doubling the recipe. Looks good though!
Hi! I am not sure why you can’t see the video. But, ours is a large slow cooker, oval shaped about 6.5 quarts as well. Enjoy!
 Ok, thank you for the quick response about the slow cooker! I think I have an out of date plugin so I am updating now, then hopefully can watch the videos 🙂
This was really tasty, and we will definitely make this again! I added a little dried oregano and basil to the ricotta mixture and used a couple types of hard Italian cheeses since I had them on hand. I think I could have used a bit more tomato sauce (I ran out in the top layer and supplemented with some canned tomato sauce), so next time I will add a small can of diced tomatoes to the sausage mixture. I also added a bit of cheese to the top layer. All in all a big hit in my house, and like you said in the write up, the house smelled great all afternoon!
[…] Slow Cooker Challenge I knew I wanted to experiment with all kinds of dishes. I slow cook stews and lasagnas all the time, but for this week I wanted to tackle a few less commonly slow cooked meals. Breakfast […]