A simple and fresh spinach lasagna recipe full of light ricotta cheese and portobello mushrooms. Vegetarian recipe.
Prep Time40 minutesmins
Cook Time30 minutesmins
Course: Casserole, Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: lasagna, vegetarian
Servings: 8people
Calories: 442kcal
Author: Trish | The In Fine Balance Food Blog
Ingredients
3cupsItaliano cheese, shredded
8-9no cook, dried lasagna noodles
Sauce
1tablespoonolive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2teaspoonitalian spices
½tsochili flakes
1796ml canwhole tomatoesSan Mazano are best
1796ml candiced tomatoesno salt added
2tablespoonwhite sugar
1teaspoonsea salt
spinach and mushroom layer
1small white onion, finely diced
2clovesgarliccrushed or minced
½teaspoonred chili flakes
1tsp dried Italian herbs
4portobello mushroom caps, gills removed and chopped
½teaspoonsea salt
6ozfresh baby spinach
Cheese layer
650mlsricotta cheese
½cupparmesan cheesegrated
½teaspoonlemon zest
1teaspoon Italian spices
2clovesgarliccrushed or minced
½teaspoonsea salt
2tablespoonfresh basil
Instructions
To Make Sauce
In a large deep sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat and added diced onion. Allow onion to soften - about 5 minutes. Then add garlic, chili flakes, and spices. Saute for another minute, then add in tomatoes sugar and salt. Allow sauce to simmer while the veggies cook, 20-30 minutes. Reduce heat if bubbling too much.
For Vegetable layer
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat and add diced onion. Allow onion to soften - about 5 minutes. Then add garlic, chili flakes and Italian herbs. Saute for another minute, then add mushrooms. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until mushrooms are cooked through and tender. Add spinach. Toss and saute until spinch is completely wilted. Remove from heat. Set aside
For cheese layer
In a large bowl combine ricotta and parmesan cheeses, lemon zest, Italian spice, garlic, salt and basil.
Assemble Lasagna
At this point, if your tomato sauce is a bit on the thick side, add a ½ cup of water and stir it in so that it well incorporated and smooth. You want a nice thin sauce, chunky is okay, but it needs enough moisture to help the noodles soften as the lasagna bakes.
In a 9x12 glass casserole dish, spread a ½ cup of sauce on the bottom. Lay 3 noodles, lenghtwise across bottom on casserole dish. On top of noodles spread ½ of ricotta cheese mixture, top with 1 cup of shredded cheese and ¼ of the tomato sauce.
Layer 3 more noodles, ¼ of the tomato sauce and spread spinach and mushroom mixture evenly. top with 1 cup of shredded cheese and remaining ½ of the ricotta cheese mixture.
Drizzle ¼ of the tomato sauce on top of cheese mixture, layer remaining 3 noodles. Spread remaining sauce over nooodles and top with 1 cup of shredded Italian cheese.
Cover with aluminium foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake for another 20 minutes or until cheese on top is bubbly.
Notes
So that assembly goes quickly, make all the components first.This lasagna can be assembled ahead of time and baked later. If making ahead of time, add 10 minutes to the baking time while the dish is still covered. So baked covered for 30-35 minutes, then bake for an additional 20 minutes uncovered to melt the cheese and toast the top.