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Smoked Sausage Lasagna is the ultimate comfort food, made with layers of smoked sausage and smoked tomato marinara sauce.
Table of Contents
Smoked Lasagna is a great comfort food. It’s not only a great use for smoked marinara sauce, it also a meal that feeds a crowd, and makes an amazing house warming or meal train idea for new parents.
Looking for more comfort foods for the grill or smoker? You can check out our round up of great comfort food recipes.
Think about it. The love we all have for lasagna just got 100 times more incredible by adding some delicious smoked sausage and rich smoked tomato sauce.
Modifications
I make different variations on homemade lasagna every time I make it. This is a very versatile and customizable recipe. Ideas include, adding:
- Sautéed Mushrooms
- Zucchini
- Spinach (4 cups goes a long way with this dish)
- Spicy Pickled Peppers
If making gluten free, use the same technique with your favorite gluten free lasagna noodles.
The Day Before – Smoke Sausage and Tomatoes
If you’re making the Smoked Tomato Marinara Sauce: Go ahead and smoke the tomatoes and the sausage at the same time. And ideally just make both the day before you make the lasagna. Or time it so you can make the marinara sauce prior to constructing the lasagna.
- Prep your Italian sausage by breaking it up and placing it on a sheet pan. Or consider buying it in bulk versus in a sausage casing.
- Smoke sausage at 250 degrees F for 60 minutes, until the sausage reads 155 degrees at its thickest point. It will continue cooking in the lasagna too.
- Make your Smoked Tomato Marinara Sauce. You might want to make extra sauce, because it’s incredibly easy to just sneak spoonfuls of it and eat it alone like it’s soup. I’m speaking from experience here!
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Once that’s done, you can build your lasagna. If you are short on time you can make this in batches. The sausage and smoked tomato sauce can be made in advance and stored in the fridge. Even the smoked sausage lasagna itself can be assembled up to a day in advance and placed in the oven when it’s time to eat.
How to Make Lasagna
It’s all about the layering.
- Heat Sauce: In a large saucepan, heat up smoked sausage and smoked tomato sauce together.
- In a Medium Bowl: Combine the ricotta, egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, prep cheeses.
- Layer Ingredients: Spread some of the tomato sauce evenly on the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Layer with 3 lasagna noodles. Spread some of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Add 1/3 of the mozzarella, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of the smoked tomato sauce.
- Repeat: With noodles, ricotta mix, cheeses, and sauce 2 more times. Cover with 3 noodles. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and sauce. Cover with foil.
- Bake Lasagna: About 40 minutes, then remove the foil and let it bake an additional 15 minutes to crisp up the exterior crust. Remove, and let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.
Wine Pairing for Smoked Sausage Lasagna
I love a good Italian red for this smoked sausage lasagna. Montefalco Rosso from Umbria is always a great choice. Montefalco Rosso DOC is made with primarily Sangiovese grapes (which are widespread in the area) blended with Sagrantino (the most important grape of the region), to give it structure and character, and often a small amount of Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. They are like mini versions of Sagrantino di Montefalco, but great for everyday drinking as well as more affordable.
If you can’t find this wine, reach for your favorite Sangiovese, Barbera, or Zinfandel.
Want another great lasagna recipe? Check out our cookbook!
Other Smoked Tomato Recipe Ideas
- Smoked Tomato Marinara Sauce
- Smoked Tomato Bloody Mary
- Meatball Sandwich
- Smoked Tomato Bisque
- Smoked Beef Lasagna — As seen in Fire + Wine Cookbook
*This recipe was originally published in February of 2017 and republished in October 2020 with updated photos and recipe details.
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Smoked Lasagna Recipe With Sausage
Ingredients
For the smoked sausage:
- 1 lb ground bulk hot Italian sausage
For the Lasagna:
- 4 cups smoked marinara sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 12 no-boil or oven ready lasagna noodles
- 1 16-ounce container whole-milk ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¾ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 2 cups packed tight)
Instructions
For the Sausage:
- Preheat smoker to 225 degrees, using oak wood.
- Place sausage spread out on a large foil-lined cookie sheet in small clumps.
- Smoke for 60 minutes and remove. Look for a darker color on the exterior while still moist. It will continue cooking in the lasagna.
For the Lasagna:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add 1-tablespoon olive oil and the smoked sausage. Add 4 cups of the smoked tomato marinara sauce and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. Mix together and let cook 5 minutes to combine.
- In a medium bowl combine the ricotta, egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
- Spread ½ cup of the tomato sauce evenly on the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Layer with 3 lasagna noodles. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Add 1/3 of the mozzarella, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of the smoked tomato sauce.
- Repeat with noodles, ricotta mix, cheeses, and sauce 2 more times. Cover with 3 noodles. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and sauce. Cover with foil.
- Bake lasagna, covered with foil, for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake about 15 more minutes, until heated through and liquid is bubbly. Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Making lasagna has always intimidated me, but this looks just way too good not to try. What an amazing recipe!
I used to be intimidated by it too! But it’s actually so simple. Just about layering a bunch of delicious stuff on top of each other 😉
This recipe sounds fantastic. Perfect lasagna to have stored away in the freezer or to bring to a friend as a gift. Love the smoke idea so much!
The smoked tomato sauce looks AMAZING – And, leftover lasagna is never a bad thing!
Nope, not at all!! In fact we had so much leftover from all the batches we have a whole batch we ended putting in the freezer. Now we can have it any time we’re craving it 🙂
Beautiful photos! Love the idea of the smoked marinara sauce!!
A few days after I had my son, a friend showed up with quinoa-stuffed acorn squash, a big green salad, and a bottle of red wine. I was so touched–and so starving! I’ll never forget it. This lasagna sounds delish. I love the idea of smoked tomato sauce!
The same thing happened to us!! We had a friend bring over some amazing and unexpected food for us after the birth of our boys. We were so incredibly grateful and touched that we now do it for any friend near us who has a new baby. I know a lot of parents have a hard time asking for help (I know I did!!), so we just bring over food no matter what.
This lasagna looks good enough to eat right now! I can just imagine how good it must taste! Yum! Thanks for the recipe. I’m giving it 5 stars.
Thanks so much 🙂
Oh my gosh, that looks so amazing! I am such a lasagna lover and this is on my must-do list now! Yummy!
Lasagne = greatest comfort food ever!
Hahaha… I love that you can actually see from the photos that you test your recipes! This looks amazing… smoked tomatoes would make the dish for me. YUM. I could certainly live off of lasagna for 6 days, I am a bit like Garfield the cat that way.
Haha yup, we’re big into testing recipes around here. Sometimes obsessively!!! It took us over a year (and dozens of attempts!) to finally get our smoked jalapeño poppers right. The lasagna was definitely a fun one to test. I wanted to know how it changed when making a double batch, and what the different noodle styles did to the end product, as well as adjusting different seasonings. We definitely ended up sharing some of the leftovers with other neighbors too 🙂
Sounds like such a lovely concept! I love the idea of the smoked flavor in there! Yum!
A smoked pasta sauce sounds like an amazing addition to lasagna ! I cant wait to try it.