ITALIAN SAUSAGE ROLL PASTA BAKE

I am sure I have mentioned before that I have a weird obsession with keeping the freezer as empty and tidy as possible - not sure where that comes from?! I also have a tendency to tidy the fridge as well!!
Anyway I have had some leftover lasagne sheets in the freezer from when I made my vegetarian lasagne and I was desperate to use them up. After doing a "2" day (only 500 calories) yesterday I knew I would want something filling so this Fay Ripley meal seemed the perfect recipe.

I only cooked this recipe for the three of us and it took roughly 15 minutes to prepare and 1 hour to cook.

Ingredients for 6 people:

2 tbsp of olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
250g portobello mushrooms, finely chopped
30g bunch of fresh sage, leaves finely chopped (keep back a handful)
450g good quality sausage meat 
200g tomato puree
150ml dry white wine
250g fresh lasagne sheets
600ml tomato passata
200ml half fat creme fraiche

Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas mark 4.

In a non stick frying pan, add a splash of olive oil and cook the onion for 5-10 minutes to soften.

Add the chopped mushrooms and fry for another 5 minutes.

Then add the chopped sage for another minute. I chopped the sage in a mug with scissors - super easy.

Now add the sausage meat.

With a wooden spoon, break it into mince as it browns.

Keep turning it over until it is cooked right through - this took about 5-10 minutes. Next add the tomato puree and stir again for another minute or two.

Finally add the white wine and let it bubble for a further 5 minutes and season.

Using scissors, cut each lasagne sheets in half to make rectangles. Lay them all out and divide the filling evenly between the sheets.

Roll each pasta sheet around the filling to make short stubby cannelloni rolls and arrange them in an ovenproof dish in a single layer (around 22 x 26cm). This was easier said than done and mine looked a right old mess! My lasagne sheets cracked all over and would not stay in position!

Mix the passata and creme fraiche together in a bowl and season, then pour over the pasta.

Toss the remaining sage leaves in some olive oil and scatter over the top. Then bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

Serve and enjoy.

This was lovely - I was expecting it to taste exactly like lasagne but it has a different flavour - more tomatoey. We all really liked it however decided it was lacking in one very important ingredient…..cheese!!! When I do this next time I will definitely be adding some mozzarella and cheddar on top or some cheesy garlic bread on the side would be a good alternative. The sage was wonderful - definitely buy fresh leaves. This is one of those recipes that you can prepare the day before (just cook for an extra 10-15 minutes) and would taste delicious as leftovers…..unfortunately there were none in our house - we polished the whole lot off!