Lasagna with béchamel and Italian sausage is one of my all time favorite comfort foods. Easier than it sounds and perfect if you want to feed a crowd. Make ahead and have it ready when friends and family come for dinner.
There are some foods that people have strong convictions about, potato salad is a great example, I really only like the kind my mother makes. Lasagne is another. I like mine with béchamel sauce instead of ricotta. You can change out the other ingredients but I just love the consistency béchamel gives this dish. I’ve been making this version of lasagna forever and thought it was time to share the recipe.
It was Taylor’s birthday and she loves this dish, so I made it the week before, and froze the rest so she could take it back to school with her. There was still plenty for us to eat for her birthday dinner.
For the meat, I used ground sirloin and Italian sausage, but it’s also good with regular sausage. I normally add mushrooms, but forgot to pick some up, so this version didn’t have any. I like it better with mushrooms. Since I don’t like a lot of tomato sauce, I use just enough to give it flavor without overpowering the rest of the dish. If you like a soupier version, just add more, you can’t mess this recipe up. The end result is a creamy version of lasagna that we all love.
I sprinkled a little extra cheese on the top right before I took it out of the oven to make the top more gooey, that’s completely optional.
Lasagna
Lasagna with béchamel and Italian sausage is one of my all time favorite comfort foods. Easier than it sounds and perfect if you want to feed a crowd. Make ahead and have it ready when friends and family come for dinner.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 1x
Ingredients
- 1 lb. hamburger
- ½ lb. sausage
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
- 1 cloves garlic minced
- 21 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons basil
- 6 tablespoons butter
- ⅓ cup flour
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2½ cups milk
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese
- 1 ½ cups parmesan cheese
- 9 pieces pasta, 1/2 lb
Instructions
1. In a large skillet cook hamburger, sausage until brown and remove from skillet. Add onions, mushrooms and garlic and cook until tender. Add meat back to skillet and stir in tomato sauce and spices. Bring to boil and reduce heat. Boil gently uncovered about 10 minutes.
2. For béchamel sauce, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour, pepper, nutmeg and salt. Cook for 1 minute and slowly add milk whisking until thickened.
3. Cook pasta in boiling salted water.
4. Arrange a single layer of pasta in greased 9 X 13 in pan. Spread with 1/3 béchamel sauce, 1/3 meat and 1/3 cheese. Repeat 2 more times ending with cheese.
5. Bake in an oven pre-heated to 350º for 40-50 minutes. Let cool slightly before cutting.
Notes
Great to make ahead and freeze.
Mmmm, this sounds yummy… Will try this next time I make Lasagna!!
★★★★