Guest Recipe: Tom's Festive Italian Sausage Lasagne, Featuring Chestnuts & Cranberry

Let’s face it, by Boxing Day most of us are happy to wait another 364 days until we see another turkey on the dinner table! What seemed like a good idea in the early days of December has not only broken the cooks’ spirit but the leftovers have become an insurmountable challenge for the remaining house guests to devour.

So this year, why not buy a smaller bird and introduce Tom’s suitably festive Italian Sausage Meat Lasagne into your seasonal repertoire? Using readily available yuletide ingredients of chestnuts, cranberry sauce and sausage meat alongside store cupboard staples, this lasagne packs a punch and will enliven the slow days between Christmas and New Year.

• Prep Time: 40 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour and 25 minutes

Serves: 8

Category: Pasta,Christmas

Ingredients

• 500g Dried Lasagne Sheets
• 250g Mozzarella Balls
• 75g grated Parmesan
• 2tbsp olive oil
• 800g Sausage Meat
• 180g Cooked Whole Chestnuts (shop bought)
• 1tsp dried basil
• 1tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1tsp dried marjoram
• 1tsp dried thyme
• 2tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 3 x 400g tinned tomatoes
• 1 red onion
• 80ml red wine
• 1 large bunch of fresh basil
• 330ml water
• 2 tbsp cranberry sauce
• Salt
• Pepper

Method

1. Pop the sausage meat into a large bowl and crush 1 tsp each of dried basil, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, thyme and fennel seeds in a pestle and mortar.
2. Tip the dried herbs over the sausage meat with 1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes and squish together.
3. Heat a large roasting tray in a hot oven at 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7 with the 2 tbsp olive oil.
4. Add meatball sized chunks of the sausage meat to the hot oil and roast for 5 mins.
5. Crush the meatballs down with a spatula and stir through the oil. Return to the oven for a few minutes more to brown.
6. In a liquidiser, add 2 x tinned tomatoes, the red onion (roughly chopped), 3 cloves garlic, 80ml red wine, 80ml of the water, 1 tsp dried fennel, 1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes, 1 large bunch of fresh basil, and a generous pinch of salt and black pepper.
7. Blitz to form a smooth liquid. Chop the cooked whole chestnuts into small pieces (the size of a little fingernail) and stir through the sausage meat.
8. Pour the tomato sauce over the meat mixture, stir and return to the oven for 20 minutes to thicken.
9. While the sauce is baking, make a simple tomato sauce in the liquidiser using 1 x tinned tomatoes, 250 ml water, 2 tbsp cranberry sauce, 1 tsp salt and a generous grinding of black pepper.
10. Pass the blitzed up liquid through a fine sieve and place the smooth liquid to one side.
11. When the sauce has finished cooking, it is time to assemble the lasagne. In a roasting tray, pop a thin layer of the simple tomato sauce on the bottom before covering it with a layer of pasta.
12. Add 1/3 of the sausage filling before adding 1/4 of the mozzarella and topping with a layer of pasta sheets. Repeat this twice more before topping with a final layer of pasta sheets and the final 1/4 mozzarella.
13. Pour over the remainder of the simple tomato sauce and sprinkle over the grated parmesan cheese.
14. Bake in the oven at 220°C (200°C Fan)/425°F/Gas Mark 7 for 40-45 minutes - although check after 25 minutes and cover with a sheet of foil if the top is browning too fast.
15. When baked, allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving with a crisp leaf salad and garlic bread.

Tom Frizell-Shackley is a food writer, private chef, recipe developer and freelance PR consultant. Based in the North East of England, he lives with his partner, son and three spaniels. Since 2019, he has published recipes and kitchen tips for his Kitchen Notes food blog.