Cheesy Creamy Lasagna Alla Vodka Recipe

Penne alla vodka dates back to the 1970s, at which time it was invented in either Italy or New York (no one seems sure). Although developer Patterson Watkins has long been a fan, she only recently realized that vodka sauce could be more versatile than simply pairing with penne. Hence lasagna alla vodka, something she describes as "creamy, tomatoey, savory, and with that telltale bright, slightly sharp element provided by the vodka". She does note, however, that in order to have the sauce turn out as it should, you can't cut corners (or calories) with the cream. "Heavy cream won't break or separate when added to your tomato base," Watkins explains, but milk or half and half would do so and make for an unappealing texture.

Since the sauce is so rich, the lasagna would be best paired with a green salad with a tangy vinaigrette dressing, while Watkins suggests a Greek salad. You may also want to add a side of starch like pasta's best friend, garlic bread. If you have a can of biscuits, you could make our shortcut garlic knots.

The lasagna itself consists of layers of noodles, mozzarella, parmesan cheese, ricotta, Italian sausage, and spinach. For the sauce, you'll need butter, garlic cloves, onion, vodka, tomato paste, canned whole tomatoes, and heavy cream. Additional ingredients include an egg and some olive oil for cooking.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat.

Once hot, add the sausage to the skillet, and cook until brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes. While cooking, break-up the sausage into small pieces.

Once cooked, remove the sausage from the skillet using a slotted spoon, and set aside.

Working in batches, add the spinach to the skillet, and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes.

Remove the cooked spinach from the skillet and set aside to drain in a mesh strainer or colander.

Add the butter to the skillet and melt.

Once melted, add the garlic and onion, and saute for 3 minutes.

Carefully deglaze the skillet with vodka (if you cook over open flame, remove the skillet from the heat before deglazing) and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the vodka has reduced by half, about 3 minutes.

Add the tomato paste to the skillet and stir to combine.

Add the canned tomatoes to the skillet, stir to combine, and bring to a simmer.

While simmering, use a spoon to crush the tomatoes into small pieces, releasing their juices. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove the skillet from the heat, add the heavy cream, and stir to combine. Set the skillet aside.

Place the ricotta and egg in a medium bowl and stir to combine.

Spoon approximately ¾ cup of the sauce into the bottom of a 13x9-inch casserole dish, spreading out evenly.

Place 3 cooked lasagna noodles over the sauce.

Spoon about ⅓ cup of the ricotta mixture over the noodles, spreading out as evenly as possible.

Top the ricotta with approximately ½ cup mozzarella cheese, 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, ⅓ of the cooked sausage, and dollops of spinach.

Drizzle with another ¾ cup of sauce, sprinkle with a tablespoon of chopped basil, and repeat this layering process (noodles, cheeses, sausage, spinach, sauce) 2 more times.

For the final layer, place the remaining noodles, sauce, and cheeses (ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan) on top, distributing as evenly as possible.

Spritz a sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray (this will keep the topping from sticking to the foil) and cover the casserole dish.

Place the lasagna in the oven and cook, covered, for 45 minutes.

Remove the foil from the lasagna and increase the oven temperature to 425 F. Return to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned.

Remove from the oven and set aside to rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Garnish the lasagna with any remaining chopped basil.

While this recipe calls for spicy Italian sausage, you may, of course, swap it out for sweet Italian sausage if you prefer. Conversely, if you want an even spicier (although less traditional) lasagna, you could replace the meat with Mexican-style chorizo. It is also okay to use Italian-style sausage made from ground chicken or ground turkey if you're looking to cut down on the overall fat in the dish (bearing in mind that the heavy cream is a must). Plant-based sausage would be fine too, as long as you don't use anything intended as a breakfast sausage replacement since this flavor wouldn't work for lasagna.

Yet another option involves using links of Italian sausage instead of ground meat. There are two ways you could go about this, one of them being to simply snip and peel off the sausage casings and use the loose meat "innards." The other, however, would involve frying the sausage links whole as per the package directions, then cutting them into coins or chunks to add an extra layer of texture to the lasagna.

If you prepare this lasagna recipe from start to finish on the same day, it could take a fair amount of time. You can, however, break it up into manageable steps by spreading out the work a bit. The entire lasagna could be assembled ahead of time and refrigerated for a day before baking, but the easiest part to make ahead is the sauce. It can last for a few days in the fridge, while you could even freeze it for longer storage. In this case, though, don't add the cream until after the sauce thaws in order to avoid any possibility of it separating.

As for leftovers (or planned-overs), individually wrapped portions of lasagna freeze beautifully, of course. If you'd like to reheat them so that they retain their optimal texture, thaw each portion first, then bake it at 350 F for about 15 minutes. If you're in a hurry, though, it'll still taste great heated in the microwave.