Easy Cheesy Vegetable Sausage Lasagna - Live Simply

Wait…

You guys didn’t think I was going to post a green smoothie for my first food post of 2015? Of course not!

Smoothies will come, eventually. Just between you and me, I’m working on a glorified version of these amazing fruit-loving smoothie packs. But, like I said, smoothies are for another day.

Before we proceed, just a little disclaimer: If you’re on any kind of detox, I recommend skipping today’s post. Trust me, it’s for your own cheese-loving good.

Let’s start the new year the way it’s meant to be celebrated, with an easy cheesy vegetable sausage lasagna!

Easy Cheesy Vegetable Sausage Lasagna - Live Simply

Dustin and my first year of marriage was full of trials. We spent our first twelve months of marriage trying to figure out the whole married life thing– finishing college, finding jobs (hello, bills!), and discovering we had two very different food standards.

Dustin’s idea of a family dinner involved enjoying canned soup from a shared soup pot with two spoons. Very romantic! My idea of the perfect family dinner was entirely different–starched linens, china, and a five-course meal. Dustin’s preferred style of dining fit our college life much better than mine. Plus, I wasn’t the best cook.

Easy Cheesy Vegetable Sausage Lasagna - Live Simply

After many failed dinners, we finally sat down to brainstorm solutions to our dinner dilemma. I wanted more than a soup pot and two spoons each night. Dustin desired meals that were edible and did not consist of “well done” chicken breasts. Together, we wrote down a list of meals we enjoyed, including canned soup (before real food).

Easy Cheesy Vegetable Sausage Lasagna - Live Simply

On the very top of our humble list sat the word: “lasagna.”

Even though my family didn’t know about “real food,” my mom taught me enough about cooking and healthy eating that I knew the lasagna found in the freezer section of the store was something to avoid. But, the idea of making homemade lasagna terrified me. In fact, I contemplated “accidentally” throwing away that list for several days after our little husband and wife pow-wow, but my common sense always came back. “Really? You’re going to throw away this list just because you’re scared of making lasagna?”

Easy Cheesy Vegetable Sausage Lasagna - Live Simply

Let’s speed this story up a bit. I know, it’s torture to read about my newlywed issues with lasagna while skimming photos of cheesy noodles and sauce.

So…

Long story short, after weeks of internal struggle, I learned to cook homemade lasagna. Three cheers for Kristin!

I’ll admit the multiple-process dish didn’t come easy. We choked down ate a lot of soupy, burnt, and mushy lasagna. Each time I would go back to the drawing board and try to figure out what went wrong.

Easy Cheesy Vegetable Sausage Lasagna - Live Simply

Attempt number…well, I’ll leave that number up to your imagination… was finally a success.

Happy husband. Cheesy (edible) lasagna. Happy cook.

You knew there would be a happy ending, right?

I’ll admit it. Ten years later I still cringe at the word: “lasagna.” It must be physiological because today my lasagna is cheesy and saucy. Our marriage is now full of family dinners that work for our blended style of soup pots (filled with homemade soup) and starched napkins. Perfectly blended, just like us. Awwww.

Easy Cheesy Vegetable Sausage Lasagna - Live Simply

The secret to my lasagna-conquering success? Skipping the ricotta cheese. Yep, it’s simply not needed, in my humble lasagna-making opinion. Skip the ricotta and you can also get rid of the egg, extra mixing time, and one more dirty dish! Poof, easy…

This easy cheesy vegetable sausage lasagna is made with a blend of mozzarella and parmesan cheese (trust me, you won’t even know the ricotta is missing!), roasted seasonal vegetables, and mild sausage. The perfect combination for both the veggie-lover (me) and the meat-lover (Dustin). This lasagna can also be made on your prep day and kept in the fridge for 24-48 hours before baking, making homemade lasagna even easier to make.

Easy cheesy vegetable sausage lasagna may be served as a fancy dinner with perfectly starched napkins, or as a one pan and two forks kind of meal.

Easy Cheesy Vegetable Sausage Lasagna - Live Simply

homemade cheese sausage vegetable lasagna
5 from 2 votes

Easy Cheesy Vegetable Sausage Lasagna

Easy cheesy vegetable sausage lasagna may be served as a fancy dinner with perfectly starched napkins, or as a one pan and two forks kind of meal.
Kristin Marr
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 25 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 6 People
Calories 3695 kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 cups chopped zucchini or yellow squash or a mixture of both, approx 1 zucchini
  • 2 cups chopped eggplant approx 1 eggplant
  • 1 red bell pepper chopped, about 1 cup
  • 8 garlic cloves chopped
  • 2 TB extra virgin olive oil divided
  • 1 tsp salt to taste
  • 1 tsp black pepper to taste
  • 6 lasagna noodles cooked, this is half a package, reserve the other 6 noodles for another night. You can also use no-bake lasagna noodles, just increase the final cook time by 15 minutes.
  • 1 lb ground mild sausage or Italian sausage
  • 3 cups spaghetti sauce homemade or organic store-bought
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 8 oz block
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup parsley chopped, optional

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400F.
  • In a large bowl, toss the the vegetables (including all the garlic) in one tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the vegetables in a single layer on a large baking sheet (I use a baking stone) and roast for 30 minutes. Once the vegetables are removed from the oven, lower the temperature to 375F.
  • While the vegetables bake, heat a large saucepan, over medium-high heat, with one tablespoon of olive oil. Add the ground sausage and cook until no longer pink. Add the spaghetti sauce to the sausage, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until the lasagna is ready to be assembled (about 20 minutes).
  • To assemble: Spread 1 cup of spaghetti sauce over a 13x9 baking dish and top with 3 lasagna noodles. Spread half the vegetables over the noodles, 1 cup of sauce, 1 cup of mozzarella and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Add the last three lasagna noodles, the remaining vegetables, 1 cup of sauce, 1 cup of mozzarella and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted. Top with chopped parsley, if desired.

Notes

Inspired by Roasted Vegetable Lasagna from The Make Ahead Cook Find all my favorite cooking tools, baking dishes, and pans here.

Nutrition

Calories: 3695kcalCarbohydrates: 208gProtein: 196gFat: 232gSaturated Fat: 91gCholesterol: 591mgSodium: 12046mgPotassium: 5680mgFiber: 27gSugar: 56gVitamin A: 11385IUVitamin C: 282.1mgCalcium: 2531mgIron: 19.9mg
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!

Easy Cheesy Vegetable Sausage Lasagna - Live Simply

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4 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Hi, Kristin, I have to admit when I first saw this recipe I pinned it without ever reading the story. Now that I am trying to come up with some pasta ideas for this weekend I’ve read through your story and loved it! You should have tasted my first lasagna. GAG! My husband and I still laugh about it almost 37 years later! It called for adding a little sugar to the spaghetti sauce. I kept tasting and adding, tasting and adding. Well after about a cup of sugar later, we each took one bite, spit it out and through the whole pan out! I too have learned how to cook lasagna in the intervening years. And I, too, had to overcome my fears of making lasagna and a whole host of other foods! Thanks for bringing back the memories with your great story. It’s a real breath of fresh air.

    1. Hey Teresa, Lol, that’s awesome! Maybe you created a new treat…dessert lasagna ;)? Thank you so much for sharing. I’m so glad to hear someone else struggled with the whole lasagna thing too.

    1. That’s awesome, Gina! I’m so happy you enjoyed the lasagna. I think it’s even better the next day, so I bet it was wonderful for lunches. Thank you for sharing.