The magic of sausage! It can take an ordinary lasagna and turn it into something special. Yet, even before the sausage, this is no ordinary lasagna. Fresh homemade pasta for the noodles, the Ricotta-Béchamel sauce from Chef Silvia’s Hand Rolled Lasagna and fresh mozzarrella already take this to another level. Add the sausage and it’s breathing down the neck of the venerable Lasagna Verde Bolognese in the race for the title of my favorite lasagna.

Sausage Lasagna Recipe

Prep time: 45 min | Cook time: 1 hour | Total time: 1 hour and 45 min

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped fine
1 pound sweet Italian sausage meat (stuffing from 4 links)
1 35oz can of imported Italian tomatoes
salt & pepper to taste
3 fresh basil leaves
1 recipe Ricotta-Béchamel (see below)
1 pound of fresh mozzarella cut into small cubes
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmagiano-Reggiano cheese
1 recipe of homemade fresh pasta rolled out and cut into 13 inch long pieces

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sautè, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. Add sausage meat, and salt & pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally until sausage is browned approximately 10 minutes.
4. In a large bowl, crush the tomatoes with your hands then add them with their juices to the pan. Add 1/2 cup of water and bring to a simmer. Turn heat to low and let simmer until thickened, about 30 minutes. At the very end of cooking, tear the basil leaves into pieces with your hands and stir into the sauce. Remove the sauce from the heat.
5. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In 3 batches add the lasagna sheets to the boiling water and cook until just under al dente. Remove the noodles from the pot using a slotted spoon, place in a colander, rinse under cold water to stop the cooking and spread out on clean kitchen towels.
6. Spread 1 cup sauce over bottom of a 13×9-inch glass baking dish. Cover with a layer of 2 to 3 lasagna noodles, overlaping slightly to fit. Spread 1/3 of the Ricotta-Béchamel mixture on the noodles, top with 1 cup of the sauce. Spread 1/4 of the mozzarella over the sauce. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of parmaggiano-reggiano and top with a layer of lasagna noodles.
7. Repeat this 2 more times. Cover the final layer of lasagna noodles with the remaining sauce and sprinkle remaining cup of mozzarella on top.
8. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil, place in oven and cook for 60 minutes. Remove foil and cook until cheese is melted about 5 minutes more. Remove from oven and let sit 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Ricotta-Béchamel Filling

4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons unbleached white flour
1 cup whole milk
1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Prep time: 5 min | Cook time: 15 min | Total time: 20 min

1. Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over low heat. Add the flour and stir with a wire whisk until it forms a paste.
2. Slowly add the milk to the butter and flour mixture, whisking until smooth.
3. Continue to cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture is thick and smooth, it should coat the back of a spoon.
4. Remove from heat and refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Remove from refrigerator, add the ricotta, salt and pepper, and stir until well combined.

There is an Italian bakery in Bridgeport, CT called Del Prete, and they make these great mini biscotti. They are the perfect size for dunking in an espresso or a glass of vin santo. I usually get the chocolate and the almond from Del Prete, but have been making butterscotch biscotti off and on for a few years, and thought I would try making them smaller like those from Del Prete. I also wanted to try making chocolate.

The recipe I have adapted for the butterscotch biscotti is actually one my mother clipped from a newspaper 20 years ago. I don’t know what newspaper it was, but the recipe is one that was sent in by a reader, and it was called Grandmom Arcuri’s Butterscotch “Biscotti”. The quotes around the word biscotti were apparently because they eliminated the second baking in their recipe. Since biscotti actually means twice baked, I guess you could say they were not technically “biscotti”. Anyway, Grandmom Arcuri wherever you are, thanks.

Butterscotch Biscotti Recipe

Prep time: 20 min | Cook time: 55 min | Total time: 1 hour and 15 min

3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 large egg beaten in a bowl

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl whisk together eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Whisk in butter and almond extract until combined.
3. In a small bowl whisk together flour and baking powder, then stir it into the egg mixture in the large bowl and fold in the butterscotch chips.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a log and transfer two logs to each baking sheet, evenly spaced apart.
5. Stretch and flatten out the logs until they are the length of the baking sheet and 2 inches wide.
6. Brush the tops of the dough with the beaten egg, then place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Using a serrated bread knife, cut each log diagonally in to 1 inch thick slices. Place biscotti back on baking sheet, return to oven and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how hard you like your biscotti.

For the chocolate biscotti recipe, I did a hybrid of the butterscotch recipe and David Leibovitz’s Chocolate Biscotti. I went to his recipe to get the measurements for the amount of chocolate, but I like the texture the butter in the butterscotch recipe lends.

Chocolate Biscotti Recipe

Prep time: 20 min | Cook time: 55 min | Total time: 1 hour and 15 min

3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon almond extract
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 large egg beaten in a bowl

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl whisk together eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Whisk in butter and almond extract until combined.
3. In a small bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder, then stir it into the egg mixture in the large bowl and fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a log and transfer two logs to each baking sheet, evenly spaced apart.
5. Stretch and flatten out the logs until they are the length of the baking sheet and 2 inches wide.
6. Brush the tops of the dough with the beaten egg, then place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Using a serrated bread knife, cut each log diagonally in to 1 inch thick slices. Place biscotti back on baking sheet, return to oven and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how hard you like your biscotti.