This Lasagna with Venison Sausage dish is wild, wild as in not domesticated. The venison was once wild and free – roaming the woods behind our friends’ John and Lisa‘s place. We’re keeping it simple. Just pasta, cheeses, marinara, sausage and mushrooms. We’re giving the sausage a chance to shine.
John and Lisa have gifted us venison before, but sadly, we left it in the car on the floor behind the driver’s seat. We didn’t find it until long after we began saying “Do you smell something?” Then, “what IS that smell?” Then, “OMG, I can’t get into the car until we figure out what died in there!” We figured it out alright. We had to get the car fumigated – there was no other way to get rid of that smell. Ugh.
Anyway, even after we admitted what we we had done, they trusted us, and gifted us with some more venison from their property – sausage this time. I was determined to make good use of it. I was inspired to make lasagna because I made a big batch of Fresh Ricotta a few days ago and I didn’t want it to go to waste. Likewise with the mushrooms stems – I made Marinated Mushrooms recently using just the caps. I saved the stems for I knew not what, at the time. I’ve been making my own Fermented Sourdough Pasta and I’m getting pretty good at rolling it out – I’m now comfortable with the KitchenAid pasta roller setting #5. The pasta is so thin you can see through it. I must share that the marinara is house-made as well – preserved and sitting on our pantry shelf. So, Lasagna with Venison Sausage came together, just like that! And trust me, it smelled heavenly!
Lasagna with Venison Sausage
Ingredients
- 2 cups mushroom stems
- 1 pound venison sausage
- 1/2 t salt
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese (divided – 1 cup for filling; 1/2 cup for topping)
- 1 batch fresh lasagna noodles
- 1 quart marinara
Instructions
- Prep mushrooms, sausage, and parsley – Chop the mushrooms stems into small pieces. Remove the sausage from its casing. Chop the parsley.
- Make the ricotta mixture – Mix together the ricotta, egg, 1 cup of mozzarella, 1/4 cup of Parmesan, and 1/4 cup of the parsley. Set aside.
- Brown the mushrooms and sausage – Add the sausage and the mushrooms to a dry skillet. Salt the mushrooms. Begin breaking up the sausage and stirring to combine. The sausage will caramelize and the mushrooms will expel their liquid. Continue stirring until most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Preheat the oven and assemble the lasagna – Preheat the oven to 350℉, convection bake setting. Spread a thin layer of the marinara on the bottom of your lasagna pan, and evenly scatter about 1/4 of the mushroom and sausage mixture. Top with a layer of noodles, then cover the noodles with a thin layer of the ricotta mixture. Repeat 2 more times, layering marinara, sausage, noodles, and ricotta, then add the final layer of noodles. Cover this last layer of noodles with more marinara and the reserved 1/2 cup of mozzarella.
- Bake – Cover the pan and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for about 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Notes
BTW, my friend John isn’t a hunter, but he has a friend who hunts on his property. It is nice to know where your food comes from and that it’s free-range. And it’s nice to have a reason to make Lasagna with Venison Sausage!
COOKING NOTE: Next time I make Lasagna with Venison Sausage, I think I’ll add a bit of cinnamon, some allspice, a pinch of cloves. I’m thinking Cincinnati’s Skyline Chili flavors would really work here (shout out to Amy, who introduced me to Skyline Chili!). If you haven’t experienced it, I recommend that you put it on your bucket list if you’re ever in Cincinnati.