SAUSAGE AND VEGGIE LASAGNA






Ingredients
1 pound chicken sausage, casings removed
1 pkg (8 oz) sliced mushrooms
2 large carrots, peeled and grated
1 zucchini (8 oz), trimmed and grated
1 jar (24 oz) marinara sauce (I prefer to use homemade) http://www.bubblews.com/news/1226849-marinara-sauce

1 container (15 oz) part-skim ricotta cheese
1 bag (7 oz) 2% shredded Italian cheese blend (such as Kraft)
1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped
12 traditional lasagna noodles (not no-boil)

Directions
 1. Line a 5-quart slow cooker with a slow cooker liner. Coat liner with nonstick cooking spray. Crumble sausage into a nonstick skillet and cook over medium to medium-high heat for 6 minutes, breaking apart with a wooden spoon.
 2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine mushrooms, carrots, zucchini and 1 cup of the marinara sauce. Stir remaining sauce into the sausage.
 3. In a medium bowl, stir together ricotta, 1 cup of the shredded cheese and the basil.
 4. Begin layering: Break 3 noodles into thirds and spread on bottom of slow cooker. Top with half the vegetable mixture, spreading level, and 3 more noodles, broken into thirds. Spread noodles with sausage sauce and top with 3 more noodles, broken into thirds. Spread noodles with ricotta mixture and remaining 3 noodles (in thirds). Top noodles with remaining vegetable mixture and remaining shredded cheese. Cover and slow cook on LOW for 4 hours.
 5. Remove crock insert from slow cooker and cool for 30 minutes. Uncover and use liner bag to lift lasagna from crock. Remove slow cooker liner and cut lasagna into pieces.