Ice Storm Lasagna

Also known as clean out the kitchen for two.   We worked at home all day because we had a bit of an ice storm going on.  Monday evening we finally left the office and found our windshields totally iced.  The driveway at home was slicker than snot.  Well, at least that's what I told Mom as I was talking to her when we got home.  Connie kind of coasted down the driveway to get the mail.  It wasn't quite a boogie.  No, that'd be too much movement for that amount of ice.  Tuesday, the news folks kept talking about this epic storm.  An inch more of freezing rain on top of the half inch we'd gotten Monday night.  I made the executive decision.  The office was closed for Tuesday.  Ah, the next problem.  The talking heads were worried about widespread power outages.  I went into WORK mode.  No blogging.  No reading Foodbuzz.  Focus on the office.  Get as much done as I could before the freezing rain hit.  And, since it was sleet pouring from the sky instead of freezing rain, we were in luck.   

So, Tuesday evening we had a date planned.  It was with our friends Dan and Kathy.  We were going to a Brazilian steak house during Devour Downtown.   Kathy called and I answered and asked where in the world they were.  Told her we'd come downtown because we were worried about finding a parking place.  Right.  The Mayor had called for no travel unless it's an emergency.  We were going nowhere.  They were heading to Lowe's to get a tarp for the car.  And, they'd gotten bread, milk and whatever. 

Instead of Fogo de Chao we ate at home. Lasagna.  Clean out the kitchen for two lasagna.  We didn't have much cottage cheese so it was two layer. No ricotta.  That's ok, it wound up being the best lasagna I've ever made.  The only downside?  Lots of dirty pots and pans!

Ice Storm Lasagna

Ingredients:
6 lasagna noodles
1 24-26 oz tomato basil pasta sauce
3/4 c red wine
1 1/2 c chopped pre-cooked sausages
3/4 c baby carrots
1/2 c garlic cloves
6 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 c cottage cheese
2 eggs
1 T chopped chives
2 t Italian seasoning
olive oil
1 c shredded romano
2 c shredded mozzarella

Directions:

Pour a tablespoon or two of olive oil in the bottom of a large skillet.  Toss in the carrots and the garlic cloves. 

When they've both gotten nice and browned (the carrots will not be softened at this point,) add the sliced mushrooms.  

Cook the lasagna noodles according to the package directions.   While they're cooking, brown the  sausages in a large saucepan. 

In a bowl, mix the cottage cheese, eggs, chives and Italian seasoning. 

When the lasagna noodles are cooked, drain them and set them aside.  At that point, preheat your oven to 350.  When the sausages are just about browned, pour half the red wine in to deglaze the pan.  Scrape well to get all the good browned bits off the bottom of the pan.  Pour in the pasta sauce.  Take the other half of the red wine and pour it into the pasta sauce jar.  Put the lid on and give it a good shake, then pour that all into the sausages.  Take a scissors and cut the carrots into bite-sized pieces. 

Pour the vegetables into the tomato sauce/sausage mixture and stir well.  Now, you're ready to put the lasagna together.  Schmear some of the sauce mixture on the bottom of a 9x13 ovenproof baking dish.  It's not a full layer but just enough to keep the noodles from sticking.  

Lay three lasagna noodles on the sauce.  Coat the lasagna noodles with half of the cottage cheese/egg mixture. 

Top with half of the remaining sauce mixture. 

Sprinkle on half of the romano cheese. 

Repeat.  Bake at 350 for 45 min.  Top with the mozzarella cheese and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and browned.