Sweet & Zesty Lasagna

Photo: Lady Catherine Gourmet

Ingredients

1 pound of lasagna noodles – broken into threes

Sauce:

2 grilled Jalapeño’s – chopped with seeds

7 cloves garlic – crushed& chopped

1 healthy handful cilantro – chopped

1 sweet onion – sliced

35 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 pinch of sugar

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

Sprigs of fresh oregano – chopped

5 Sage leaves – chopped

Dashes of fresh ground black pepper

Dashes of sea salt

Olive oil

Meat:

4 links of sausage – 2 hot and 2 sweet

Cheeses:

16 ounces of cottage cheese

1 Zest of small orange or ½ a large orange

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

Dashes of fresh ground black pepper

1/4 cup or grated Romano cheese

8 ounces mozzarella- shredded

Grated Romano cheese

Preparation

Heat the griddle and place the jalapeño’s on the griddle along with the sausage links. Grill until the peppers become slightly charred. Remove from the griddle, chop and set aside. When the sausage is cooked chop into pieces and set aside.

Heat a saucepan with a drizzle of olive oil and place the chopped jalapeño, garlic, onion and cilantro. Sauté until the onion becomes clear. Add the sausage, oregano and sage leaves. Add the tomatoes and the seasonings and simmer on low while preparing the cheeses and the noodles.

Prepare the water for the lasagna noodles. Break the noodles into threes before putting in the water. Cook as directed on package.

Preparing the Cheese:

Place the cottage cheese in the food processor and process until smooth.

Add the orange zest, grated cheese, brown sugar, white sugar, black pepper and a tablespoon of sauce to the cottage cheese and blend again.

Preheat Oven 350 degrees:

Drizzle a little olive oil at the bottom of a baking dish along with a ladle of sauce. Drain the noodles and layer the bottom of the pan with noodles. Top with a layer of cottage cheese mixture, mozzarella, sauce and grated Romano cheese. Repeat this process until all of the noodles are used up.

Place in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.

Let the lasagna rest for about 10 minutes after it comes out of the oven.