Lasagna variations

I tried something a little different with my lasagna recipe last night. I used spicy Italian sausage in the sauce, instead of ground beef and ground pork. I think I actually like that better, although it is pretty spicy. I may use half spicy and half sweet sausage next time. I was out of both ground beef and pork.

I also realized that a) I had less ricotta than I would normally use, and b) I was going to need something to counterbalance the spicy sauce. So I added a lot more mozzarella and parmesan than usual, and I also added lots of dandelion greens between the layers. Dandelion greens are a little bitter, like arugula, and are very good for you. Spinach would have worked here, too, but I only had frozen spinach and it wasn't thawed.

Overall it was a much more flavorful lasagna. Which is not to say that the original recipe isn't very good, as well, but I really liked the interplay between the spicy sauce and the greens.

So it just goes to show you--sometimes it's more exciting to use what you have, instead of strictly following a recipe. Viva la experimentation!