Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Spinach Lasagna

I'm always looking for ways to sneak a few extra veggies in to a meal, and spinach is one of those "super foods" that you can always use more of.

Ingredients:
  • 1lb frozen spinach
  • 1 lb ground beef or turkey
  • 1 jar homemade spaghetti sauce (or your favorite sauce)
  • Whole wheat lasagna pasta
  • 1 tub organic mushrooms (it's cheaper to buy them whole and cut them yourself rather than buy them pre-cut.)
  • Mozzarella cheese
  • Cheddar cheese
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Ricotta cheese
  • Garlic
  • Oregano
  • Onions
  • Parsley
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
  • Brown you meat in a skillet.  Chop and saute mushrooms and onions in garlic and butter.  Simmer meat, mushrooms & onions, and sauce in sauce pan for a few moments to marry the flavors.  
  • Thaw and drain your spinach.  Add it to your sauce.  Let it simmer.
  • Mix all 4 cheeses in a bowl.  Set aside.
  • Put a small spoon full of sauce in bottom of pan and spread around.  (This keeps the pasta from sticking to your pan.)
  • Layer boiled lasagna pasta in bottom of pan.  
  • Next layer some meat sauce over the pasta.
  • Then sprinkle some garlic, oregano, basil and parsley over the meat sauce.
  • Sprinkle some cheese over the spices. 
  • Continue layering until you've used all of your ingredients.  (Your last layer should be cheese.)
  • Sprinkle more spices on top of the cheese.  - Looks pretty and tastes yummy too. 
Bake at 350 until lasagna is hot throughout and cheese is melted. 


TIPS:
  • Make a double batch of lasagna and put the extra one in the freezer for a busy night when you don't have time to cook, or a sick friend that needs a meal.
  • If you are not planning to eat the lasagna right away, or are making it for the following day, you can skip the "boil the pasta step" and put dry pasta in the pan and let it set in the sauce over night or for a few hours.  Take it out of the fridge and bake it till it's hot throughout and the cheese is melted.  No one will ever know you didn't cook the pasta before you put it into the pan.  
  • You can also saute squash and zucchini along with your mushrooms and onions, and add it to the spaghetti sauce if you like those things.

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