Sausage-pepperoni Lasagna

Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1 (16 ounce) package bulk lamb sausage, hot or mild (we much prefer 'hot')
• 4 cups homemade spaghetti sauce or 1 (30 ounce) jar commercial pasta sauce
• 1 (8 ounce) package lasagna noodles
• 1 large egg
• 1 (15 ounce) carton ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (can substitute 1 tablespoon dried)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup freshly-grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon margarine
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided (or more!)
• 1 (3 1/2 ounce) package sliced pepperoni

Recipe

• 1 brown sausage thoroughly in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring to crumble; drain well.
• 2 return sausage to skillet and add spaghetti sauce, stirring well to mix.
• 3 cook lasagna noodles according to package directions, except omit salt if called for.
• 4 while pasta cooks, break egg into mixing bowl and beat lightly.
• 5 add ricotta, parsley, oregano, pepper and grated parmesan to beaten egg, stirring well to mix.
• 6 when lasagna is done, pour into a colander and run cold running water over the noodles.
• 7 (be sure not to skip this step. they stick together something awful and will be impossible to layer if you don't rinse away all the starch.) preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• 8 lightly grease a 9" x 13" baking dish on bottom and sides with margarine.
• 9 spoon a small amount of meat sauce into dish, spreading to coat lightly.
• 10 (use 1/2 cup or less-- just enough to prevent the bottom layer of noodles from sticking. it should be more like a'film' than a layer.) place half the noodles in bottom of dish, overlapping slightly if necessary.
• 11 spoon half the ricotta mixture on top, using a rubber spatula to spread evenly over all.
• 12 sprinkle with 1/3 of mozzarella.
• 13 spoon on 1/3 the remaining meat sauce.
• 14 repeat layers.
• 15 cover top of dish with pepperoni slices.
• 16 pour remaining meat sauce over all, spreading evenly.
• 17 bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.
• 18 remove from oven and sprinkle remaining mozzarella on top.
• 19 bake an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese has melted.
• 20 let stand 10 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.
• 21 (it won't affect the taste if you don't let it'rest', but it will be terribly runny instead of cutting nicely.).