Everyone loves lasagna, right? Spinach Lasagna is a lovely way to mix things up. Instead of layering meat and cheeses with a rich tomato sauce, consider a vegetarian version that layers a spinach, nutmeg, and ricotta mixture with a luscious bechamel sauce. It may not be what you think of when you think of lasagna, but you may actually begin dreaming about it once you’ve tried it. It’s that good.
Lasagna is relatively new in my repertoire. For the longest time I considered lasagna something that you would only prepare when you needed to feed a lot of big people who were very hungry, or a passel of little people who loved anything cheesy. Upon occasion, I’ve cooked for dinner parties (where I aimed for something decidedly un-cheesy), but most of the time I was just cooking for two – lasagna just didn’t come to mind. Then we learned that Ron couldn’t eat gluten, so the notion of lasagna was completely off the table.
Within a few years, gluten-free pastas became readily available so I was finally inspired to try my hand at lasagna. It was always disappointing and not at all worth the trouble. And every time, Ron would rhapsodize about his sister Mary‘s lasagna, but he couldn’t tell me what made it special, except that she served it with plenty of “gravy.” I just gave up after a while.
But then we visited Ron’s family in Florida this spring, and Mary made – you guessed it – lasagna! It was wonderful! The tomato sauce simmered on the stove all day, then she brought a huge bowl of the thick and rich “gravy” to the table, studded with sausages and meatballs. It was so decadent, and authentic. There was cheese, but it wasn’t at all cheesy. Mary served her lasagna with stuffed mushrooms and a crisp green salad. Ron’s family is typically chatting on multiple channels at once, but the table fell silent as we savored the meal. It was the real deal.
Well, this Spinach Lasagna is not that. I won’t claim that it will distract you from the conversation at the table, but you will savor each bite. Each element of the dish is perfect – the spinach and ricotta mixtures is scented with nutmeg, the bechamel is so, so creamy, and the hand-made sourdough pasta noodles are toothsome and hearty. If you make it once, you’ll make it again and again.
Spinach Lasagna
Equipment
- 9 X 13 lasagna pan
Ingredients
- 12 sourdough lasagna noodles, dried
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella
Spinach Ricotta Mixture
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 onion
- 1 t kosher salt
- 20 ounces baby spinach
- 1 15-ounce ricotta cheese
- 1 cup grated Parmesan
- 1 large egg
Bechamel Sauce
- 4 T butter
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure flour
- 4 cups half and half
- 1 t salt
- 1 t nutmeg
Instructions
- Steam the spinach – Steam the spinach, then drain and rinse it. Let it cool a bit until it's not too hot to handle, and squeeze out all of the excess moisture, fistful by fistful.
- Sauté the onion – Peel and finely chop the onion. Heat the olive oil, add the onion, and sauté until the onion is soft.
- Stir the spinach ricotta mixture together – Stir together the sauteed onions, steamed spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, and egg to evenly combine.
- Make the bechamel – Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the garlic, and cook it in the butter until it is softened and fragrant. Stir in the flour and continue stirring until all of the flour has been absorbed, the slowly pour in the half-and-half. Add the nutmeg and salt to taste.
- Preheat the oven and assemble the lasagna – Preheat the oven to 350℉, convection bake setting. Spread a layer of the bechamel sauce in the bottom of your lasagna pan. Top with a layer of lasagna noodles. Next, spread the spinach ricotta mixture over the noodles. Add a layer of mozzarella. Repeat this layering process 2 more times.
- Bake – Tightly cover the lasagna and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, turn up the oven temperature to 450℉, and bake until the lasagna is browning on top and bubbling along the edges. Let rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Well she printed out the recipe! She said it sounds delicious and hopefully she will make it while I’m still here 😂
This looks so good. Where do you get the sourdough lasagna noodles? Did you make them?
Thx! I do make them from scratch. I’m still learning! You could use regular lasagna noodles instead, of course. I opt for sourdough ‘everything’ from scratch because Ron can digest sourdough – the fermentation process disarms the gluten somehow… Otherwise I’d have to use gluten-free products.
Loved this story!!! Your lasagna looks absolutely delicious!
Thank you! It’s not Mary’s (the gold standard), but it’s pretty good! 🙂