White Lasagna with Sausage, Spinach and Portabello Mushrooms

Look at me! Baking and blogging up a storm these past few weeks. Am I just overly ambitious? Hmm... I wish!  I am BORED!  I have been iced or snowed in my house for 3 days in the past week with more days off probably tomorrow and possibly Friday! I don't sit still well.(It is how I was raised.) I can not watch any more Netflix or worse than that, daytime TV.  Dr. Oz and Steve Hardy make me want to jump off the bridge downtown.... if only I could get there!

So, instead of causing bodily harm, I have been spending my time reading blogs and recipes and pulling out a lot of the cookbooks that I have stashed away and making things that are on my wish list. That list is actually so long that I could probably have a whole year of snow days and still not complete everything on it!

This has been my new South Carolina "snow life!" Waking up, showering, putting on fresh Pjs, scouring books and webpages and then getting busy in the kitchen. Usually, at some point in this process, some wine or craft beer might come into the mix. My biggest fear is if this weather doesn't clear up and I continue to churn out these rich, comfort food recipes, the only clothes I will be able to wear is Pjs or elastic pants. Ugh.... Praying for no more snow!!!

White Lasagna with Sausage, Spinach and Portabello Mushrooms

The thing about snow day cooking is; it is a game. What recipe am I interested in making? What recipe do I have the ingredients for? Or how can I alter the recipe to make it work with what I have? I LOVE that game. As most of my friends and family know, I do usually have a pretty stocked pantry, freezer, and kitchen. So it is not as hard as you might think. This is one of those recipes that I had all the ingredients for. You can use any sausage that you like. I used venison because I have an abundance of it and I love the flavor.

1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

1 bag of fresh spinach
8 oz of sliced portabello mushrooms
1.5 pounds lean sausage of your choosing. I used venison.
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 package no-boil lasagna noodles

1- 15 oz tub part skim ricotta cheese
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 large eggs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese plus more for the top
2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.

Combine flour, milk, chicken broth, bay leaf and olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk together and heat until sauce is thickened and bubbly, about 8 minutes. Be very careful and tend to this sauce. As I learned, if you look away for one minute it will boil over. Remove bay leaf and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of prepared 9x13 pan.

In a large skillet, Add the onion, mushrooms and garlic and cook until onions and mushrooms are softened, about 3-4 minutes. Add sausage and cook until browned. Break up large pieces with a spoon while cooking. . Remove skillet from heat and stir in spinach and remaining sauce.

In a large bowl, combine ricotta, eggs, half of the mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese. Set aside.

Place 4 lasagna noodles over sauce spread at the bottom of the 9x13 pan. Dollop 1/3 of the ricotta mixture on the noodles and spread mixture carefully until it is even. Top with 1/3 of the sausage/veggie/sauce mixture. Add 4 more lasagna noodles and repeat layering two more times, ending with spinach/veggie/sauce mixture. Top with 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Cover dish with foil and bake for 50 minutes. Remove foil and broil lasagna for 4 minutes to brown the cheese on top.
Remove lasagna from the oven and let rest 10 minutes before serving. 

Recipe adapted from Heat Oven to 350