LASAGNA w/ TURKEY SAUSAGE

From Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Family Style

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes in tomato puree
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound lasagna noodles
15 oz. ricotta cheese
3 to 4 oz. creamy goat cheese, crumbled
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat the olive oil in a large (10 - 12-inch) skillet.  Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat, until translucent.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.  Add the sausage and cook over medium-low heat, breaking it up with a fork, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until no longer pink.  Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of the parsley, the basil, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.  Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat, for 15 to 20 minutes, until thickened.

Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with the hottest tap water.  Add the noodles and allow them to sit in the water for 20 minutes.  Drain.

In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, goat cheese, 1 cup of Parmesan, the egg, the remaining 2 tablespoons parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Set aside.

Ladle 1/3 of the sauce into a 9 x 13 baking dish, spreading the sauce over the bottom of the dish.  Then add the layers as follows:  half the pasta, half the mozzarella, half the ricotta and one third of the sauce.  Add the rest of the pasta, mozzarella, ricotta, and finally, sauce.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling.  YIELD:  8 servings

**DON'T OMIT THE GOAT CHEESE!  I know it sounds gross to some people, but it gives the ricotta mixture a nice flavor.  You don't have to tell anyone there's goat cheese in it!

**To make ahead, refrigerate the assembled, unbaked lasagna.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until bubbly.