Staying True to the Red, White and Green: A Tale of Two Lasagnas
My ex-husband is a hand-waving, red-sauce-running-through-his-veins Italian. He grew up having pasta every Sunday—no fail. Although different variations on a theme, two things never wavered: spicy Italian sausage and loads of cheese. My hamburger meat sauce with a sprinkle of Parmesan didn’t quite make the cut. My mother-in-law graciously handed down her recipe by way of an 8-x-10 laminated card. I got the hint.
The HOT sausage his family all enjoyed was never to my liking, but I fell head over heels with sweet Italian sausage and chucked my ground beef recipe out the door. When asked to alter THE RECIPE to an unleaded version, I balked. Sure there are a ton of lower-fat, lower-calorie recipes out there—ones that substitute zucchini for the lasagna noodles and use pureed carrots for the sauce—but it isn’t really lasagna now is it?
Although Bill was willing to eat Italian for a week, I felt that wouldn’t quite follow the FBE “all good things in moderation” motto, so I invited two guinea pigs—oh, I mean friends—over for dinner. Enter Hayley and Pender, my two unsuspecting taste testers.
I made two lasagnas: the original full-fat recipe with pork Italian sausage and loads of cheese; the second with turkey Italian sausage complemented by spinach, mushroom, bell pepper and enough cheese to still be a gooey delight.
Next: The outcome of my healthy lasagna experiment.