Sausage — Swiss Chard Lasagna — The Bread of This Family and the Pot That Feeds Us All

The boil prep is consuming me and I love it. I am in general mode — the mode Denise says is "frightening" and I say is "necessary." There are logistics to coordinate, volunteers to organize, quantities to calculate. Two hundred and fifty people have RSVP'd, which is more than pre-COVID numbers, because the community is hungry for this — hungry for the shrimp and the sausage, yes, but hungry for each other. Two years of distance makes you crave the very thing that was taken away: proximity. Being near. Eating together. The shared pot.

I went to the church on Saturday to walk the site. The parking lot. The yard under the live oaks. The spots where the tables go and the burners go and the serving line goes and the cobbler table goes. I stood in the middle of it and I closed my eyes and I could hear it — the noise that two hundred and fifty people make when they're eating and laughing and full. I could hear the choir singing under the tent. I could hear Deacon Harris's voice carrying over the crowd. I could hear Earl, behind me, saying "That's it, Dot."

I opened my eyes and the yard was empty and the oaks were still and Earl was not behind me. But he will be. On the day of the boil, when the pot is full and the shrimp curl into Cs and the community gathers under trees that have sheltered this church for two centuries — he will be there. In the seasoning. In the broth. In every bowl I serve. That's how the dead attend. Through the food.

Made cornbread tonight. The foundation of every meal. The bread of this family. The bread that has been baked in this skillet for four generations. I ate it with butter and thought about September.

Now go on and feed somebody.

The cornbread I made Saturday night was just for me — butter, iron skillet, silence — but the dish I keep coming back to when I’m planning for a crowd, when I need something that holds and layers and feeds a room the way a boil feeds a yard, is this lasagna. Sausage runs through it the same way sausage runs through every pot I’ve ever built at this church, and the Swiss chard brings something dark and nourishing underneath all that richness. It isn’t the boil. But it carries the same intention: make enough, make it with everything you have, and set it in front of the people who showed up.

Sausage & Swiss Chard Lasagna

Prep Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 25 min | Servings: 10

Ingredients

• 1 lb bulk Italian sausage (sweet or mild)
• 1 large bunch Swiss chard, stems removed, leaves roughly chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 15 oz whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 12 lasagna noodles, cooked al dente and drained
• 3 cups shredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• Olive oil for the pan

Instructions

1. Brown the sausage. In a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat, cook the sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until fully browned and no pink remains, about 8–10 minutes. Transfer sausage to a bowl, leaving about 1 tablespoon of drippings in the pan.
2. Build the sauce base. Add the onion to the skillet and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant. Stir in the Swiss chard in batches, letting it wilt before adding more, about 4–5 minutes total.
3. Simmer the sauce. Return the sausage to the skillet. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Add oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper. Stir to combine and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly. Taste and adjust seasoning.
4. Mix the ricotta filling. In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta, egg, parsley, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of black pepper until smooth and combined. Set aside.
5. Heat the oven. Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a 9x13-inch baking dish.
6. Layer the lasagna. Spread 1 cup of the meat sauce across the bottom of the prepared dish. Lay 3 lasagna noodles over the sauce. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over the noodles, then top with 1/3 of the remaining meat sauce, then 3/4 cup mozzarella and 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Repeat layering twice more. Finish with the final 3 noodles, remaining sauce, remaining mozzarella, and remaining Parmesan.
7. Cover and bake. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes.
8. Uncover and finish. Remove the foil and bake an additional 15–20 minutes, until the cheese is golden and bubbling at the edges and the internal temperature reads 165°F.
9. Rest before serving. Remove from the oven and let the lasagna rest uncovered for at least 15 minutes before cutting. This allows the layers to set and makes for clean, generous slices.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 480 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 42g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 870mg