Enlightened Spinach Lasagna
As part of Saagara’s Spicy Muse Project, we want to celebrate Stress Awareness Month by helping you conquer your stress. We will be posting one stress-relieving recipe a day we have collected from various sources that have inspired us. Enjoy!
Photo and recipe by Kristen Swensson Sturt on Serious Eats
Oh pasta you tempting muse. Comforting, warm, delicious, and bursting with flavor, it’s hard for me to turn down a bowl of the stuff. With all the cheese, fat, and butter though, sometimes my love affair leaves me feeling a bit betrayed. Enter this savvy entree, with a few subtle tweaks it satisfies the biggest appetites without filling you up with lots of fat and cholesterol . Plus it’s loaded with spinach, one of my favorite foods as it’s packed with tons of vitamins and minerals like Potassium, Copper and Manganese. If you’re hooked, here’s a another great way to prepare gorgeous green.While I used part skim cheese here you may be tempted to go all the way and use fat free cheese, do not do that. Fat free cheese doesn’t melt well and has all sorts of chemicals, not tasty, but this dish sure is!
- 9 dried lasagna noodles
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 7-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
- 10-ounces fresh spinach, washed and drained very well
- 1 15-ounce container part-skim ricotta
- 1 cup part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 egg whites, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon fresh basil, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, finely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 24-ounce jar your favorite meatless pasta sauce
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
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In a large pot or Dutch oven, boil lasagna noodles in salted water until al dente, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water.
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In a large nonstick skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute onion and mushrooms until soft. Add garlic and saute an additional 30 to 60 seconds, until fragrant. Add roasted red peppers and heat through. Kill heat and set aside.
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Preheat oven to 375ºF.
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Squeeze spinach of excess water and pat with paper towels. Add to a mixing bowl, along with ricotta, mozzarella, 1/2 cup Parmesan, egg whites, basil, oregano, and black pepper. Stir to combine. Add mushroom mixture. Stir to combine.
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Spread 1/2 cup pasta sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 glass baking dish. Layer with 3 lasagna noodles placed side-by-side lengthwise. Spread 1/2 ricotta mixture evenly on noodles. Layer with a little less than 1 cup pasta sauce. Layer again with 3 more noodles, remaining ricotta mixture, a little less than 1 cup pasta sauce, and last 3 noodles. Spread remaining pasta sauce over noodles. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
serves 8, active time 25 minutes, total time 65 minutes. Enjoy with friends.
Nutrition
