Friday, November 23, 2012

Spinach and Cheese Lasagne

In the spirit of a meatless Thanksgiving, I made this lasagne dish.  It's not my first time making lasagne, but it is my first time making a meatless lasagne.  I was pleased and so was the ex since he ate a few hunks of it and then fell asleep.  Sleep?  That's the mark of a Thanksgiving success.

Spinach and Cheese Lasagne

1 lb. lasagne noodles
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tbsp. olive oil

1 30 oz. ricotta cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. parsley
1/4 tsp. basil

1 jar good quality spaghetti sauce of your choice*
(add a pinch of oregano if the sauce has little or none in it)
1 10 ozpackage frozen, chopped spinach, thawed
2-3 cups mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven at 350 degrees
Bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil.  Add salt and olive oil.  Boil for 8-10 minutes (al dente).

While noodles are boiling, mix the ricotta, eggs, parmesan together in a bowl along with the parsley and basil.  Set aside.

Drain or squeeze as much water out of the frozen spinach as you can, or, alternately, use fresh spinach if you can get it.  Add the oregano to the spaghetti sauce if you opt. for the oregano and stir.

Drain the lasagne noodles in a colander, return to pot.  Add a small amount of the spaghetti sauce to the noodles and stir carefully.  This keeps the noodles from sticking together.

Put a thin layer of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the pan.  Layer noodles on top.  Spread half of the ricotta mix on top of this.  Put most, or all of the spinach on top of this.  Just enough so that it looks right to suit your tastes.  Put a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on top.  Then another layer of noodles.  Put the rest of the ricotta on top of this, followed by more sauce, then half of your mozzarella cheese.  Put your final layer of noodles on top (you may have leftover noodles), the rest of your spaghetti sauce and finally the remaining mozzarella cheese.  cover loosely with a sheet of greased aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling and edges are browning.

Remove from oven, cool on a rack, cut and serve.
*You may want to get two jars of spaghetti sauce in case you run out.  I used a jar and a half for my recipe.



3 comments:

  1. Looks tasty and nutritious.
    I had no idea you knew how to cook.
    I'm going to try this out sometime next week,and see how it turns out.
    I'm quite a lousy cook though.:-(

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  2. Cutting meat out of my diet has more or less forced me to be creative in the kitchen. If I didn't I'd either die of starvation or boredom.

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  3. Meatless cooking is really fun I think - it makes for a great deal of creativity just like you said! And this looks freaking delicious. I think I would love the spinach in this - I don't like it fresh really and I am picky with it sometimes, lol, but this looks mouth wateringly scrumptious! <3

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