Lasagna Bolognese with Spinach

The winter weather has me craving hearty pasta dishes. With quite a few tomatoes on hand, it was apparent that it was time for me to make some homemade pasta sauce to freeze. I decided on a pasta dish involving a bolognese sauce because of the richness of flavors and texture it has. That lead me to this recipe from Gourmet which combines bolognese with layers of spinach and bechamel sauce. The original recipe makes a full 9x12 pan of lasagna but I halved the recipe and baked my lasagna in a standard loaf pan. This prevents us from having lasagna for days on end and I like a thick & tall lasagna better than a wide & short one!

Lasagna Bolognese with Spinach
recipe adapted from Gourmet

For bolognese sauce:
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
3 slices center cut bacon, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 pounds ground pork
3/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cups 2% milk
3-4 tablespoons tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon thyme leaves

1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach,thawed

For Ricotta filling:
1 (15-ounce) container whole-milk ricotta
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/3 cup 2% milk, divided

For assembling lasagne:
6 Barilla no-boil dried lasagne noodles (from 1 box)
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Make Sauce:
Heat oil in a 12-to 14-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Cook bacon, onion, carrot, celery, and garlic, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, roughly 12 to 15 minutes. Add pork and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up any lumps, until meat is no longer pink, 6 to 10 minutes. Stir in wine, milk, tomato paste, thyme, and salt & pepper to taste. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until most of liquid has evaporated but sauce is still moist, about 1 hour.
Make ricotta filling:
Wring spinach in a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and twist to squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Set aside.

Whisk together ricotta, eggs, parmesan, nutmeg, milk and salt & pepper to taste.

Assemble and bake lasagne:
Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.
Spread a couple tablespoons of bolognese sauce in loaf pan and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parmesan. Cover with 1-2 dry noodles, leaving space in between. Spread half of ricotta filling and top with spinach; then 1 cup bolognese sauce, and top with 1 tablespoon parmesan and 1-2 noodles; repeat. Top with remaining bolognese sauce, 1 tablespoon parmesan, and remaining 1-2 noodles. Pour reserved ricotta mixture over top and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup parmesan.
Cover pan tightly with parchment paper and foil (or just buttered foil) and bake 50 minutes. Remove foil and bake until top is browned in spots, about 15 minutes more. Let stand 15 to 30 minutes before cutting.

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Chicken Veggie Alfredo Lasagna

Quite a few fellow bloggers have been making lasagnas recently and having a hodge podge of random ingredients on hand, I figured I'd jump the bandwagon and use up the miscellaneous amounts of items in my fridge. I didn't have any tomato/pasta sauce on hand (which is a reminder for me to make a big batch soon!) so I searched online for a quick alfredo sauce to use up the cream I had. I came across This Recipe from AllRecipes.com to use as a guide and made my adaptations outlined below (and this is not a figure friendly dish as written!):

Quick & Easy Alfredo Sauce
adapted from Allrecipes.com

1 stick butter
10 oz cream cheese (1 brick + 2 oz cream cheese)
1 tablespoon garlic salt (I used The Spice house brand)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1-2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
1-2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil

In a saucepan, melt butter.
Add cream cheese and whisk to melt until smooth.
Add garlic salt and stir in heavy cream.
Allow to boil for 1-2 minutes until heated through.
Stir in fresh herbs and toss with pasta.... or use in a lasagna as I did below:

Chicken Veggie Alfredo Lasagna
original Joelen recipe
(to use up random ingredients on hand)

1 cooked chicken breast, sliced
1 small yellow squash, halved lengthwise and sliced into half moons
1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced into half moons
1 cup sliced white button mushrooms
1 cup shredded colby jack cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
9 lasagna pasta sheets (dry)

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a baking dish, spread 1-2 tablespoons of prepared alfredo sauce.
- Place a layer of 3 dry lasagna pasta sheets.
- Top with half of the chicken, squash, zucchini and mushrooms.
- Sprinkle with half of the cheeses.
- Place another layer of 3 dry lasagna pasta sheets.
- Spread enough prepared alfredo sauce over pasta sheets to cover.
- Top with remaining chicken, squash, zucchini and mushrooms.
- Sprinkle with half of the remaining cheeses.
- Place top layer of 3 dry lasagna pasta sheets.
- Spread enough prepared alfredo sauce over pasta sheets to cover.
- Sprinkle with remaining cheeses.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes until pasta is cooked and cheese is golden brown & bubbly.

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Here it is...Lasagna!

This is a really simple lasagna recipe to make. I always use the no bake noodles. I know that there are several different schools of thought on this. Yes, I do like the texture of the boiled noodles better but really the noodle is just a vehicle for the sauce and that all gets soaked up into both of them! This recipe will make enough for about 6 people. We increased our from Friday night for enough to fill a 20 X 13 aluminum pan. My sauce is incredible and so easy to make. Do yourself a favor and start making your own sauces. I make one almost the same as this one for our pizza's. I just use chunked tomatoes instead of pureed ones. (What is with my font here???!!! LOL) Homemade Lasagna Ingredients: 1 box no bake Lasagna 1 (15 ounce) container Ricotta cheese 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese salt and pepper pinch of nutmeg 2 eggs 4 cups (1 pound) shredded Mozzarella cheese 5 cups homemade pasta sauce,(see below), or 2 jars Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce, sausage flavor 1 pound bulk Italian sausage, cooked, drained, crumbled
Directions: Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine Ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg & 1 cup Mozzarella cheese in a medium bowl; mix well. Spread 1 cup pasta sauce in a 13x9-inch baking dish. Layer with half each of the lasagna, Ricotta cheese mixture, sausage, remaining pasta sauce & Mozzarella cheese. Repeat layering. Bake uncovered 40 minutes or until hot & bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Pasta Sauce Ingredients: 1 onion, diced 5 cloves of garlic, minced About 5 cups pureed tomatoes (I use ones that I froze last winter) oregano garlic powder salt and pepper to taste Direction: In a small amount of oil cook onions and garlic until the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Turn the heat to simmer and add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer uncovered for about 1 hour or until the sauce has reached the consistency of a jarred sauce. The freshness of the sauce still comes through and everyone will wonder what your secret is. They did mine and that is one of the reasons I am posting this now! As Always... Happy Entertaining!!! Judy www.nofearentertaining.com

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When Spinach & Cheese Comes Together...

It's time for pasta! My hubby doesn't really like pasta too much but if anything, he prefers baked pasta dishes such as cannelloni. I had quite a bit of spinach to use so I thought a spinach & cheese cannelloni would be in order. I served this with sliced italian sausage. The recipe I used was inspired by Sara Moulton's version. Here's my recipe for Spinach & Cheese Cannelloni:

Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups half & half
salt & pepper to taste
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Cannelloni:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
10 ounces baby spinach
1 12 oz container ricotta
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
8 dry or "no-boil" Lasagna noodles , boiled & cooled

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Whisk in flour and cook the roux, whisking, 2 minutes. Add the half & half and whisk, bringing to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, 2 minutes.
Whisk in salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Remove from heat and whisk in cheese, then cover.

To make the cannelloni:
Heat oil in a 5 to 6-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then saute onion and garlic, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add spinach and saute, stirring, until just wilted, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely.
Stir together ricotta, egg, parsley, salt, pepper, and cheese in a bowl, then stir in spinach mixture.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Spread 2/3 cup sauce in buttered baking dish.
Spread about 1/3 cup ricotta filling in a line along 1 short side of 1 pasta rectangle, then roll up to enclose filling. Transfer, seam side down, to baking dish.
Make 7 more cannelloni in same manner, arranging snugly in 1 layer.
Spread 1/2 cup more sauce over cannelloni and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake, covered with foil, in middle of oven until sauce is bubbling, about 20 minutes.
Turn on broiler. Remove foil and broil cannelloni about 5 inches from heat until lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Reheat remaining sauce and serve on the side.

**I'm also submitting this to the Presto Pasta Nights blogging event! This week the event is hosted by Gay of A Scientist in the Kitchen. Be on the lookout for great pasta recipes with their roundup coming up next week!**

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Layered Tortilla Lasagna

The following recipe was shared at my Chicago Chefs Dinner event. You can read more about it and get additional recipes featured at the event HERE.

Layered Tortilla Lasagna
Shared at the event by Lori
Recipe Courtesy of Rick Bayless
Cooking Live Episode: Cook Along 70-Guest: Rick Bayless

About 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups (about 6 ounces) sliced stemmed mushrooms
1 1/2 cups corn kernels, preferably fresh and cut off the cobs (about 2 ears)
8 cups (about 10 ounces) packed, stemmed spinach leaves, well rinsed but not dried
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 tortillas (this is better with store-bought rather than homemade)
5 cups Chipotle Cascabel Salsa or substitute
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream, creme fraiche or plain yogurt
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded Mexican asadero-style cheese, brick, Monterey Jack or just about any melting cheese you like
15- or 16-ounce carton ricotta cheese
About 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium. When quite hot, add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, until just tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the corn and cook for a minute or two longer, then scrape the mixture into a bowl. Return the skillet to the heat without washing it and add the damp spinach. Cook, stirring constantly, until just wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Scoop into a colander set in the sink and use a spoon to gently press out excess moisture. Let the vegetables cool, then scoop the spinach in with the mushrooms and corn and season with the salt.

Pour a little of the remaining oil into a small skillet to lightly coat the bottom and set over medium heat until hot. One at a time, quick-fry the tortillas for a few seconds per side just to soften them. As the oil is used up, add a little more, let it heat a moment, then continue frying tortillas. Drain the tortillas in a single layer on paper towels, blotting them dry with additional towels. Cut the tortillas in half. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. In a medium-size bowl, mix the salsa with the cream or yogurt. Spread a thin layer of the salsa mixture over the bottom of the baking dish, then cover with 8 tortilla halves. Evenly top with half of the vegetables, a scant 11/2 cups of the remaining salsa mixture and 1 cup of the shredded cheese. Add another layer of 8 tortilla halves. Spread with the ricotta and another scant 11/2 cups of the salsa mixture. Top that second layer with a third round of 8 tortilla halves, the remaining vegetables, another portion of salsa mixture and 1 cup of the shredded cheese. For the final layer, evenly lay out the remaining tortillas, spread with the remaining salsa mixture (making sure to completely cover the tortillas) and evenly sprinkle on the remaining 1 cup shredded cheese.

Cover lightly with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until bubbling and lightly browned. Let stand a few minutes before sprinkling with the cilantro and cutting into squares to serve to your guests on warm plates

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Three cheese vegetable lasagna

This recipe was made for my 2007 Holiday Party featuring an Italian inspired menu. You can read about it and view the additional recipes I made for this event HERE.

Three cheese vegetable lasagna

2 quarts homemade pasta sauce (or jarred)

3 garlic cloved minced

1 large onion, chopped
2 cups chopped bell peppers
2 cups cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 cups finely chopped baby carrots
1 pkg italian cheese blend

italian seasoning, salt & pepper to taste

1 pkg lasagna pasta sheets
Saute garlic and onion in olive oil until softened.

Add vegetables and cook until softened
.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Layer baking dish with a small amount of pasta sauce.

Add layer of dry lasagna sheet.

Add layer of pasta sauce.
Add sauted veggies.

Add shredded cheese.

Repeat layering with top layer of lasagna sheet.

Top with pasta sauce.

Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake covered in preheated oven for 1 hour.

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