Spicy Sausage and Mushroom Lasagna

I had never thought of making different variations on lasagna until I visited my aunt and uncle in Italy and had some of the creative (yet probably traditional) lasagnas they made there. They treated lasagna like almost any other pasta noodle--rather than making a specific sauce and adding only certain vegetables with it, they had many different lasagna dishes that they made, all of which were amazing. So, while I would have never dreamed of making lasagna without at least a tomato sauce, one of the most delicious lasagnas I have ever eaten had no tomato sauce in it, whatsoever. It was a radicchio lasagna with Italian sausage, and while I don't have the recipe for that exact lasagna here, I did make a lasagna inspired by this recipe which I am now sharing. I still plan to make the radicchio lasagna sometime when i can get my hands on radicchio, but for now, here is the recipe I made.

Spicy Sausage and Mushroom Lasagna

Makes 2 smallish pans of lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1 medium zucchini, sliced and fried
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced and fried
• 2 lb mild or medium Italian sausage, removed from casing
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• Dash olive oil
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 litre milk
• smallest size (250gr) carton cream
• oil for frying
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 small container fresh lemon juice, or juice of 1-2 lemons
• good dash paprika
• thyme, oregano, basil, fresh chives
• Fresh lasagna cooked to al dente, made with 2 eggs, 100g white flour, and 100g semolina flour
• grated Parmesan and mozzarella to finish lasagnas.

Directions:
First, prepare the vegetables and sausage:

• First, fry the zucchini and mushrooms separately, and set aside in a bowl for later.
•  Form the Italian sausage into small meatballs, fry in a large pot until cooked through and reserve with the vegetables.

Make the sauce:

• Dice the onion and garlic finely.
• Fry the onions and garlic with a little olive oil on medium-low heat in the pot where you cooked the sausage, until translucent. 
• Add 1/4 cup butter to the onions, and melt over medium low heat. Whisk in 1/3 cup flower and cook to make a roux. Once the roux has come together, gradually whisk in 1 litre of milk, letting it thicken as you add the milk. Once it has come to a simmer and is thickened, add 250g heavy cream, 1/2 cup red wine, and the juice of 1-2 lemons. Season to taste with salt and pepper, paprika, thyme, oregano, basil, and fresh chives, and set aside to cool off a little.

Prepare and cook the lasagna:

• Once the sauce is ready and the vegetables and meat are cooked, prepare and cook your lasagna. I am not including the instructions for making fresh lasagna here, as they are too long, and anyone who makes pasta regularly has their own way of doing it. (If I upload them eventually, I will link to them here.) If you don't want to make your own pasta, you can just purchase some (fresh or dried) and prepare according to the package directions.
• Cook the lasagna until just al dente, and place in a bowl of ice water for a minute when cooked to stop from overcooking.

Assemble and cook the lasagna:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
• Clear off your kitchen table, and assemble all your lasagna components around two baking dishes, so it's convenient to fill them. 
• Spread a little sauce on the bottom of each pan, and top with a layer of lasagna noodles. Over the noodles, scatter some vegetables and meatballs, then some sauce, and top with another layer of pasta. Continue with this until the dish is full, finishing with a layer of noodles. Spread a little sauce over the noodles to keep them moist, and finish with some grated mozzarella and Parmesan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 min to 1 hour, until hot throughout, and sauce is bubbling at the sides of the pan.
• Serve hot with some crusty bread and a green salad.

Enjoy!