Oh-la-la-sagna

After a long, rainy, and gloomy week I was ready for some comfort food so I made some lasagna. I'm trying to work on eating more healthy so I changed the recipe around a bit to make it healthier. I did this by making a fresh, homemade sauce with pureed vegetables (pureed so that my boyfriend who detests vegetables would eat it), and I also used whole wheat noodles and tried to use less cheese.

Oh-la-la-sagna (adapted from Eat, Shrink & Be Merry)

3-4 sausage links, casing removed and crumbled
1 package extra lean ground beef
1 onion diced
2-3 cloves of garlic diced
1 Can crushed or diced tomatoes
1 Carrot, grated
1/2 zucchini, grated
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp each of oregano, basil, and parsely, OR use Italian Seasoning
Salt & Pepper
2 cups, Ricotta Cheese
1 egg
1/4 - 1/2 cup Spinach
1-1/2 cups Shredded Mozzarella (I used shredded Kraft 4 Cheese Italiano shredded cheese and added some cheedar)
1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 Package whole wheat lasagna noodles

Makes one 9 x 13 pan, serves 10 people. (Since there is only two of us I like to fill two loaf pans and freeze one of them for later.)

• In a pan, brown the ground beef, and sausage meat (remove casings and crumble) with 1/2 the onions and garlic. If you do not like onions you can save all of them for the sauce.
• 
• In a pot, simmer crushed tomatoes, grated zucchini and carrot, balsamic vinegar, remaining onions & garlic, red pepper flakes, basil, oregano, parsley , and chicken stock for 15- 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, boil a pot of water and cook lasagna noodles until el dente (about 8 mins).
• Take an immersion blender and puree the sauce until smooth (this may take a few minutes). Season with salt & pepper to taste.
  
• At this point you can combine the sauce with the meat. I only added a little bit of the sauce to the meat because Sam doesn't like a 'saucy' lasagna, and reserved the remaining sauce to spread in the layers.
• Combine ricotta with 1/2 cup of parmsean cheese, egg, and spinach.
  

• In the bottom of your pan spread some of the sauce (this is where I just used the remaining sauce, but you can use the meat mixture here too).
• Layer with noodles, spread noodles with a little sauce and 1/2 of the meat mixture. Top the meat mixture with 1/3 of the cheese.

• Add a new layer of noodles and spread a little sauce (if you reserved some on the side) and spread with the ricotta mixture.
• Add a new layer of noodles and layer with remaining meat mixture & 1/3 mozzarella cheese.
• For the final layer, add noodles, spread with a small amount of sauce and top with the remaining mozzarella and some Parmesan cheese.
• Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes or until the cheese browns. Let the lasagna rest for 15 minutes before serving.