Lasagna w/ Spinach & Tomatoes
This red, white, and green lasagna is sure to impress around the holidays or whenever it tickles your fancy! It's a quick and easy recipe that doesn't require buying or making a traditional sauce. Rather, it relies on fresh tomatoes, spinach, shallots, garlic, ricotta, parmesan, and mozzarella cheese.
Equipment
- Large Baking Dish
- 2 Mixing Bowls
- Oven
Ingredients
- 1 batch lasagna noodles
- olive oil to coat baking dish
- 10 medium tomatoes finely diced
- 1 lbs. spinach destemmed and chopped
- 1/2 shallot minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 qt. ricotta (8 cups)
- 1/2 c. parmesan grated
- 1 lbs. mozzarella (2 cups)
Instructions
Lasagna Noodles
- I almost always make my own lasagna noodles. Other pastas I might grab something off of the shelf in a pinch. But lasagna is more of a process and I enjoy making the noodles from scratch! They're a lot easier to make than they look, have a much richer taste, and only take about a half hour. Plus, they cook in a minute or two, instead of 15! It does require semolina flour and a pasta machine helps, but you can use a rolling pin.
- Otherwise, prepare according to the manufacturer's instructions. This typically entails boiling a pot of water, cooking for 6-10 minutes, or until barely al dente. Drain and set aside.The pasta will cook another hour in the oven, so make sure not to overcook them during this stage!
Prepare Ingredients
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Lightly coat the bottom and sides of a large baking baking dish with olive oil and set aside.Mine is 13x9 inches, but any larger-sized baking dish will do. You can always cut the lasagna sheets to different sizes.
- Finely dice, chop, and mince the tomatoes, spinach, shallots, and garlic.I prefer a finer cut to ensure that you get every flavor in every bite. It also more closely resembles a traditional sauce with a finer dice. But you can more coarsely chop them if you like it chunkier!I also de-stemmed the spinach before chopping because the stems tend to get stuck in the back of your throat when you eat them. But you can easily more finely chop these if you want to include them. Otherwise, I usually puree them in hummus or salsa or even just pet food!
- Toss the tomatoes, shallots, and garlic in a bowl.
- Grate the ricotta, Parmesan, and mozzarella. If you're using a fresh mozzarella that has a higher moisture content, it won't grate. Combine in a mixing bowl.Make sure to reserve about 1/2 cup of the Parmesan and mozzarella. This will go on top of the final layer.
Assemble Lasagna
- Arrange noodles in the bottom of the baking dish. They should slightly overlap to keep the noodles from separating.
- Add 1/3 of the tomato mixture and spinach to the lasagna noodles.
- Coat with 1/3 of the Parmesan and ricotta cheese mixture, followed by 1/3 of the mozzarella.
- Repeat layering noodles, tomato mixture, cheese mixture, and mozzarella.
- Top off with a final layer of noodles and the reserve amount of mozzarella and Parmesan.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes. The lasagna should be thoroughly heated throughout and the cheese on top will begin to brown. Let cool slightly and cut into 2-inch squares. Serve immediately.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
- Lasagna is best served immediately. However, if you have leftovers, lasagna will keep for 3-5 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Just preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and reheat in a baking dish for 15 minutes, or until hot.
- It’s traditional to add 2 teaspoons parsley and basil to the tomatoes. I don’t do this because I’m allergic to them, but you can easily add add them in!
- I also find that the salt in the cheese blend is more than enough. You can always add salt and pepper in with the tomato mixture or on top right before cooking. Just be wary about adding too much because salt is an essential part of the cheese-making process and it can easily become overwhelming. Especially when we're all used to salting food again at the table!