SPINACH RICOTTA LASAGNA BOLOGNESE

I know, I know!  It's a mouthful of a title for the recipe, but this truly is wondrous in your mouth.  People always complain that lasagna is a long, arduous process.   This one would be if you made everything from scratch on the same day.  However, if you put this at the back of your mind to make it after you've made my Best Bolognese Ever recipe ahead of time, (meaning you made plenty to have a lot of leftovers) this recipe will be a snap.  It's only 4 ingredients if you have leftovers, oh, and some already made Ricotta Cheeze.  Here's the recipe.


Ingredients:

1 pound spinach (I used already washed organic baby spinach)
2-3 cups Best Bolognese Ever
Lasagna noodles (I used 100% semolina)
1 cup Ricotta Cheeze
Parmesan Sprinkle (optional and a 5th ingredient, sorry)

Preheat your oven to 375° F 

Boil a large pot of water as if you were making the lasagna noodles (read the side of the box).  I like to use the boil kind of noodles, but you can use the no-boil....it's a preference thing for me but maybe one less step for you.  Set a large bowl of water with ice in it next to the boiling noodles.  Put the spinach in the boiling water for 30 seconds and then lift it out and put it in the ice water.  This will shock the spinach and set the color so you don't end up with black or dark colored spinach.  Wrap the spinach in a kitchen towel and twist the two ends until you squeeze out as much water as possible.

Put the Lasagna noodles in the already boiling water and boil according to the direction on the box (since we're rationing water in California this is a water saver tip).  I used a 9" X 12" baking dish for the lasagna.

Layering: 
1.  The first layer in any lasagna should always be sauce and this holds true here. 
2.  The noodles slightly overlapping each other. 
3.  Thin layer of spinach
4.  Dollops of Ricotta Cheeze
5.  Repeat steps 1-4 until you have three layers ending with a top layer of noodles with sauce.

Tent some aluminum foil over the pan (keeping the aluminum from touching the lasagna) and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the aluminum and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Let the lasagna rest because if you slice it now it will fall apart.  Ideally, if this is a do-ahead meal, refrigerate, slice your pieces, and warm in a 325° for about 25 minutes.

Sprinkle some Parmesan Sprinkle on top and enjoy. 

VEGETABLE LASAGNA

Ah Lasagna.  So many different types, but they all have one thing in common....they take time.  This one is time consuming but worth it.  I did sort of use a couple of cheats like leftover Alfredo sauce and canned tomatoes (but you still have to make the marinara).  It was really inspired by my desire to use up a bunch of vegetables at once.  You can also cheat using no boil lasagna noodles but I find the boil method works best.  The no boil tends to dry out as it needs the liquid in the lasagna to help it cook in the oven.

Ingredients:
1 box whole grain lasagna noodles, boil or no boil, your choice...this is made with boil  (If you use no boil use a bit more sauce)
2 cups alfredo sauce
1 head of broccoli steamed (about 2 cups)
2 leeks cleaned, sauteed (using only the white and light green parts.  Discard or compost the rest)
4 packed cups spinach
1 bunch fresh basil (about a cup)
2 small Italian Zucchini cut into circles and sauteed in a dry pan until browned but not completely cooked
1 large yellow squash cut lengthwise and sauteed in a dry pan until browned but not completely cooked
2 large yams peeled, boiled and mashed (if you don't peel them they should just come out of their skin when done)
2 Portabello mushrooms de-veined, sliced and sauteed in a dry pan until browned but not completely cooked
Steam the spinach and basil together and throw it in a large bowl of ice water (water including ice) to shock it and set the color.  When it's cooled remove and wrap in paper towels to dry.

Marinara Sauce:
(When making this sauce I would always double it as you can never have too much and it freezes well)
2 28 oz cans San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes (try to get low or no sodium and no sugar) Pomi is a good brand
1 teaspoon dry rosemary
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 teaspoon dry thyme
2 Tablespoons onion powder
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
sea salt and pepper to taste
8 cloves fresh garlic

Prepare the lasagna noodles according to the directions on the box if using the boil method.

Mash the yams with a little almond milk, salt and pepper

Put the Alfredo Sauce in a Vitamix, blender or food processor.  Add the cooked broccoli and leeks then

Leftover Lasagna

This is a really great tasting dish that I NoOilized from Oh She Glows website

I left out anything having to do with oil and instead of the fake cheese on top, the white you see is mashed garlic potatoes (leftover from Thanksgiving), that I dolloped on to make it look like Ricotta.  I also don't use oil when I saute.  Instead of meat crumbles I ground up some of the leftover seitan turkey.  For the tomato sauce I used a pound and a half of fresh tomatoes that I cut in half and roasted in the oven.  I added the roasted tomatoes to two large cans of Italian San Marzano plum tomatoes.  I put all of the tomatoes in a Cuisinart with several cloves of garlic, a small handful of fresh basil and a tablespoon of crushed red pepper. I cooked this on the stove for about an hour.  I sprinkled on about 3 tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast after I took the picture below.

I also used no boil whole wheat lasagna to save that step.  I served all of this with a Kale and avocado salad.  I took the spine out of the cleaned kale, cut it into small pieces, added avocado and the juice of a lemon, salt and pepper to taste.  Easy and delicious, thanks to Engine 2 recipes.