Sausage and Kale Lasagna is a delicious vegetable combined with one of the tastiest recipes from Italy. This lasagna is delicious if you feel like a casserole with comfort food and lots of vitamins. Surprising and very tasty. Before you know it, the dish is empty!
Sausage and Kale Lasagna
You probably didn't see this recipe coming. At least not my kids. And with two teenagers and an upcoming one, that's usually not a good sign.
The noses were already slightly raised, but, as is usual with us, they must taste (and if Dad finds it acceptable too), the plate has to be eaten empty.
Really kale?
Mom, really, kale in the lasagna? Do you really have to? Well, taste it first, and then we'll talk. And sure enough, it was edible. Not only that, it was delicious too. The plates were completely empty.
The fresh sausage gave the lasagna a delicious taste and went well with kale (there is a reason that kale with sausage is a delicious combination). And the kale gave a delightful bite.
According to the family, this recipe should be on the table more often. Look, I'd love to hear that.
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What do you need for Lasagna with Sausage and Kale?
To prepare this Sausage and Kale lasagna, you need the following ingredients. You can find the correct amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of the blog:
Homemade Tomato Sauce
- Onion, garlic - The basis for the flavorful tomato sauce
- Sieved Tomato, Tomato Paste, and Diced Tomatoes - I use a combination of these three for my homemade tomato sauce. Tomato paste for an intense taste. Tomato cubes for a delicious tomato taste with bite. And also tomato passata or sieved tomatoes which are pureed tomatoes with no flavorings. It is so good for making sauces because it's smooth, with no tomato lumps. If you can't find passata, use the same weight of crushed tomato, tomato paste, or tomato sauce.
- Sugar - to sweeten the taste of the tomato sauce slightly (tomatoes have a slight acidity). Taste the tomato sauce before adding it to the lasagna. The acidity of the tomatoes can vary. It may therefore be necessary to add some extra sugar.
- Bay leaf, thyme, and Italian herbs - For flavoring the lasagna.
Sausage and Kale lasagna
- Kale - Use sliced kale or cut these winter greens into ½ inch thick strips. Wash well before use. A delicious vitamin source. Ensure you wash the kale and put it in the pan with the remaining water. That way, it shrinks faster and doesn't stick. Stir well while cooking the kale. Do you only have frozen kale? No problem, just let it drain for a while so that the sauce doesn't become too watery. Instead of kale, use 1 pound (400 grams) of spinach or ¾ pound (300 grams) of cavolo nero.
- Ricotta and Parmesan Cheese - Instead of a béchamel sauce, mix three kinds of cheese: ricotta, Parmesan, and mozzarella as the topping. These cheeses melt well, giving a delicious taste and gratin. Make sure you don't use spreadable whipped or smooth ricotta (these are for spreading and are fluffier). Instead, you could substitute ricotta with cottage cheese. But make sure you remove extra water from the cottage cheese by draining it 15 minutes before use.
- Lasagna sheets - Use fresh or dried lasagna sheets and fill the dish with them. Break them in half if necessary to fill the bowl. The size of the lasagna sheets does not matter if you ensure you fill the layer well. NB For Dried lasagna, check the packet to see if the sheets need to be cooked before using (no cook or instant don't have to be pre-cooked). Then, let them sink in boiling water and follow the packet directions when it needs to be cooked.
How to prepare Italian Lasagna with Sausage and Kale
You can find a printable recipe with a step-by-step description at the bottom of this blog.
- Pour olive oil into the pan and fry the onion with the tomato paste for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and fry briefly. Add the sieved tomatoes (passata), diced tomatoes, sugar, salt, pepper, and Italian herbs to the pan, stir and place the bay leaf on top. Simmer for 30 minutes and remove the bay leaf.
- Remove the skin from the sausage to release the meat, and mix the sausage meat with Italian herbs.
- Brown the sausage meat quickly. Add the kale and garlic and stir-fry until the kale has wilted.
- Stir the tomato sauce and half of the mozzarella into the pan with the kale.
- Put ⅓ of the sauce in the baking dish and cover with a layer of lasagna sheets. Spoon another ⅓ of the sauce on top and then lasagna sheets. Spoon the rest of the sauce and divide between the sheets.
- Crumble the ricotta, mozzarella cubes, and Parmesan cheese over the lasagna and bake for 15 minutes at 430 °F (220 °C) in the preheated oven until the cheese is au gratin.
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📖 Recipe
Servings: persons
Equipment
- A conventional oven is used. When using a convection oven (with air fan) decrease the temperature wit 30 °F / 20 °C
- casserole pan 13 x 9 inch
Ingredients
Tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 clove garlic
- 12 oz. sieved tomatoes passata
- 28 oz. diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon Italian herbs
- 1 bay leaf
Sausage and Kale Lasagna
- ½ pound kale sliced thinly
- 1 pound sausage
- 1 teaspoon Italian herbs
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic squeezed
- portion tomato sauce above
- 5 oz. lasagna sheets
- 5 oz. mozzarella
- 4 oz. ricotta
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme only leaves
- 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese grated
Ingredients you need per step are listed below the step in Italic
Instructions
Tomato sauce
- Pour the olive oil into the pan and fry the onion and tomato paste for 2 minutes.1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 onion, 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- Add the garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds.1 clove garlic
- Pour the passata and diced tomatoes into the pan, and season with the sugar, salt, pepper, and Italian herbs. Stir it and place the bay leaf on top.12 oz. sieved tomatoes, 28 oz. diced tomatoes, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon Italian herbs, 1 bay leaf
- Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and put the lid on the pan.
- Let simmer for 30 minutes.
Sausage and Kale Lasagna
- Preheat the oven to
430 °F or 400 °F. - Cut the kale thinly (¼ inch, ½ cm) and wash it. Let it drain. It doesn't have to be dry but can have adhering water (which is even better for cooking). If you use frozen kale, let it thaw and drain.½ pound kale
- Remove the skin from the sausage.1 pound sausage
- Mix the Italian herbs with the ground sausage meat.1 teaspoon Italian herbs
- Heat the oil in the wok and fry the sausage quickly.1 teaspoon olive oil
- Add the kale and the garlic (and then you know why the wok comes in really handy ;-)) and stir-fry for 5 to 6 minutes until the kale has shrunk.3 cloves garlic
- Turn off the heat and stir the tomato sauce into the kale sausage mixture.portion tomato sauce
- Add half of the mozzarella and stir it into the sauce.
- Put ⅓ of the sauce at the bottom of an oven dish.
- Place a layer of lasagna sheets on top.5 oz. lasagna sheets
- Scoop ⅓ of the sauce on the lasagna sheets again.
- Put the rest of the lasagna sheets on top.
- Cover with the last bit of sauce.
- Spread the ricotta, thyme, the rest of the mozzarella, and the Parmesan cheese over the sauce.5 oz. mozzarella, 4 oz. ricotta, 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- Put in the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese is golden brown.
Notes
1. Sieved Tomato, Tomato Paste, and Diced Tomatoes - I use a combination of these three for my homemade tomato sauce. Tomato paste for an intense taste. Tomato cubes for a delicious tomato taste with bite. Tomato passata or sieved tomatoes are pureed tomatoes with no flavorings. It is so good for making sauces because it's smooth, with no tomato lumps. If you can't find passata, use the same weight of crushed tomato, tomato puree, or tomato sauce.
2. Kale - Use sliced kale or cut these winter greens into ½ inch thick strips. Wash well before use. A delicious vitamin source. Ensure you wash the kale and put it in the pan with the remaining water. That way, it shrinks faster and doesn't stick. Stir well while cooking the kale. Do you only have frozen kale? No problem, just let it drain for a while so that the sauce doesn't become too watery. Instead of kale, use 1 pound (400 grams) of spinach or ¾ pound (300 grams) of cavolo nero.
3. Sugar - to sweeten the taste of the tomato sauce slightly (tomatoes have a slight acidity). Taste the tomato sauce before adding it to the lasagna. The acidity of the tomatoes can vary. It may therefore be necessary to add some extra sugar.
4. Lasagna sheets - Use fresh or dried lasagna sheets and fill the dish with them. Break them in half if necessary to fill the bowl. The size of the lasagna sheets does not matter if you ensure you fill the layer well. NB For Dried lasagna, check the packet to see if the sheets need to be cooked before using (no cook or instant don't have to be pre-cooked). Then, let them sink in boiling water and follow the packet directions when it needs to be cooked.
5. Oven - When you use a conventional oven, set the temperature to 430 °F (220 °C). In a convection oven, 400 °F (200 °C) is sufficient.
6. Storage
Before baking, the sausage and kale lasagna
- Refrigerator - Store covered in the fridge for up to 1 day.
- Freezer - Prepare without the cheese topping and wrap in two layers of plastic wrap. Let it thaw in the fridge. Divide the cheese over the top and bake for 30 minutes at 390 °F (200 °C). You have to bake it a little longer because it comes from the refrigerator.
- Refrigerator - Store covered in the fridge for up to 2 days.
- Freezer - Wrap in two layers of plastic wrap. Let thaw in the refrigerator. Sprinkle the top with two tablespoons of water. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30-45 minutes (depending on the size of your lasagna) at 320 °F (160 °C).
Nutrition
Calories: 803kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 39g | Fat: 49g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 21g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 127mg | Sodium: 1335mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 6764IU | Vitamin C: 87mg | Iron: 7mg
Stephanie says
This recipe produced such an inviting dinner dish (and was a nice change from my usual lasagna recipe!). The kale, sausage and herbs in this lasagna work together perfectly. Thanks for the detailed instructions.
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome says
I've had lasagna with spinach, but the kale gives it so much more flavor and texture. There is a satisfying earthiness to it. Excellent recipe!
Andréa says
Thank you. It's a bit different, but really delicious!
Andréa says
Thank you for your kind words. I like the kale because it's so good in combination with the sausage (which needs a bit of flavor as a counterpart).
Mina says
I love how this lasagna turned out! Looks so delicious with all those sausage and kale. I'm so excited to try making this soon.
Andréa says
Now winter is approaching it's even getting better. Thank you!