Venison Lasagna
Submitted by sld
Spicy venison sausage lasagna layered with a slow-simmered mushroom tomato sauce, creamy ricotta, stretchy mozzarella, and Parmesan. A leaner, bolder twist on the Italian-American classic.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
45 minREADY
1 hrsSwap out the usual ground beef for spicy venison sausage and suddenly lasagna has a whole new personality.
The sauce starts on the stovetop: venison sausage browns with onion and garlic, then simmers for an hour with whole tomatoes, tomato sauce, mushrooms, basil, and a pinch of sugar to balance the acidity.
While that bubbles away, the ricotta filling gets mixed with Parmesan, oregano, and parsley for that classic creamy layer.
Everything stacks up in a baking pan: noodles, meat sauce, mozzarella, ricotta, and repeat.
Forty-five minutes in the oven and a fifteen-minute rest later, you’re cutting into layers of stretchy cheese and rich, spiced meat sauce.
Chef Tips
- Simmer the sauce until it’s thick like proper spaghetti sauce. Watery sauce means soggy lasagna, and nobody wants that.
- Reserve half a cup of sauce for the top layer. It keeps the noodles from drying out and gives you that glossy, appetizing surface.
- Let the lasagna rest a full 15 minutes after baking. It needs time to set, or the layers will slide apart when you cut.
- Venison sausage is leaner than pork sausage, so the finished lasagna won’t be greasy. The ricotta layer adds all the richness you need.
Ingredients
Directions
Cook and stir sausage, onion and garlic salt in 10-inch skillet until sausage is light brown.
Drain. Add tomatoes (with liquid), tomato sauce, 2 tablespoons parsley, sugar, basil, ½ teaspoon salt and mushrooms. Heat to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered until mixture is consistency of thick spaghetti sauce, about 1 hour. Cook noodles as directed on package. Reserve ½ cup of the sauce mixture. Mix ricotta cheese, ¼ cup Parmesan, 1 tablespoon parsley, 1½ teaspoons salt and oregano. Layer ½ each of the noodles, remaining sauce mixture, mozzarella cheese and ricotta cheese mixture in ungreased oblong pan, 10X6X2 inches. Repeat above process until you have 2 layers. Spoon reserve sauce on top, top with mozzarella and sprinkle with Parmesan. Cook uncovered at 350℉ (180℃) for 45 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes.
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