I’ve decided to cook my delicious Cajun Lasagna that’s not only perfect for Sunday dinner, it also makes the perfect leftovers for lunch throughout the week!
I should call this Mama’s Big Bad Lasagna because that’s really what we’re creating people.
I cooked up a big batch of my favorite ragu sauce which includes ground turkey and andouille sausage.
Yes, we need two meats to make this Big and Bad!
Next, while the sauce simmered I made up a cheesy mixture of eggs, ricotta cheese, sharp, jack, mozzarella, and parmigiano reggiano cheeses.
Yes, we’re loading this lasagna with 5 cheeses!
I’ve made lasagna with one cheese before and it’s just not the same.
The mixture of cheeses gives the lasagna a richer depth of flavor.
Yep, I am using fancy cooking terms today people, lol.
Oh, don’t forget to boil your lasagna noodles in salted water for about 6 minutes.
They’ll finish cooking when they bake.
Lastly, it’s time to assemble this baby!
Place a little ragu on the bottom of a greased casserole dish, top with lasagna noodles, more ragu, ricotta/cheese mixture and extra grated cheeses.
Repeat the process until we end with lasagna noodles, ragu, and remaining grated cheeses.
All that’s left to do is to bake this baby up for my family!
Cover the lasagna with greased foil and bake for about 30 minutes, then uncovered for 20 minutes more.
I love to serve this with my Jalapeno Garlic Cheese Bread and a nice Chopped Salad with Ranch Dressing.
Don’t forget this is the ultimate leftover lunch meal!
Enjoy.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 lb andouille sausage, fresh, casing removed
- 1 box lasagna noodles, dried
- 1 red onion, diced
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1/2 bunch Italian parsley, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 1 6oz. can tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tablespoons creole seasoning
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasonings
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 cups jack cheese, grated
- 8 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, grated
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs, beaten
- extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta for 6 minutes.
- Rinse Pasta with warm water, drain, coat with oil and set aside.
- Mix seasonings, reserve 1 tablespoon for ricotta/cheese mixture, and divide remaining seasons in half, set aside.
- In a large soup pot heated over medium heat add 2 tablespoon of olive oil, add onion, bell pepper, and celery.
- Saute for about 5 minutes, add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- Add ground turkey and andouille sauce, break into small chunks. Season with half of the seasoning blend and cook until browned about 15 minutes.
- Add tomato paste and mix well, cook for 5 more minutes.
- Add crushed tomatoes and chicken broth, season with remaining seasoning blend and mix well.
- Lower heat to medium-low add parsley and cook uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Mix Sharp, Jack, and Mozzarella cheese, set aside.
- Mix eggs, ricotta, parmigiano reggiano, 1 cup sharp, jack, and mozzarella cheese mixture with remaining seasoning blend and set side.
- In a large greased 13X9 inch casserole dish, place about 1 cup of pasta sauce on the bottom.
- Top with lasagna noodles, slightly overlapping noodles.
- Top with more pasta sauce, top with about 6 heaping tablespoons of ricotta/cheese mixture.
- Top with a handful of remaining grated cheeses and repeat with another layer of lasagna noodles, meat mixture/ricotta cheese mixture/grated cheese.
- For the last layer top with noodles, pasta sauce and remaining grated cheeses.
- Cover casserole with greased foil and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Remove foil and cook 20 minutes more.
- Remove from oven, allow to cool 10 minutes. Serve with garlic bread.
Notes
If you can't find fresh andouille sausage, smoked sausage can be used and diced into small chunks.
