Creamy Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna

Lasagne are a wide, flat pasta shape, and possibly one of the oldest types of pasta. The word also refers to a dish made with several layers of lasagne sheets alternated with sauces and various other ingredients.

Lasagne originated in Italy, in the region of Emilia-Romagna. Traditional lasagne is made by interleaving layers of pasta with layers of sauce, made with ragù, bechamel, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. In other regions and outside of Italy it is common to find lasagne made with ricotta or mozzarella cheese,tomato sauce, various meats (e.g., ground beef, pork or chicken), miscellaneous vegetables (e.g., spinach, zucchini, mushrooms) and typically flavored with wine, garlic, onion, and oregano. In all cases the lasagne are oven-baked.Traditionally, the dough was prepared in Southern Italy with semolina and water and in the northern regions, where semolina was not available, with flour and eggs. Today in Italy, since the only type of wheat allowed for commercially sold pasta is durum wheat, commercial lasagne are made of semolina (from durum wheat).


This recipe is made with oven ready noodles, this means the bechamel is a little thinner. I purposely omitted parmesan cheese in the bechamel sauce, to reduce the amount of fat, but certainly not the taste.  Feel free to add 1 cup of parmesan to the bechamel but make sure to omit the salt.

Mushroom & Spinach Filling 

Ingredients.

1 lb of white mushrooms sliced

2 Bunches of spinach ( or two packages)

1 small onion finely chopped

2 cloves of finely minced

1 tsp of red pepper flakes

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of fresh pepper

 oil for sauteing 

Clean and slice mushrooms, and rinse spinach.  Heat oil over medium heat add onions and cook until tender, but not brown.  Add garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from heat.

In the same pan turn heat to medium high add oil. Add sliced mushrooms, don't worry about over crowding  and the mushrooms sweating as they cook, you don't want them to brown.  Remove from heat and drain excess moisture.  in same pan add oil and spinach.  Cook until wilted.  Remove drain and chop.

Bechamel Sauce (cheeseless)

Ingredients

1 liter of milk

4 TBSP of butter

4 TBSP of flour

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of pepper

Melt butter in a large sauce pan, sprinkle flour over butter.  Cook and stir for about 4/5 minutes, to remove the raw flour taste.  Slowly add milk and whisk constantly. add garlic & onion powder, salt & pepper.  Simmer for 5 minutes whisking constantly to prevent lumps.  Reserve 1 1/2 cups and set aside.  add mushrooms, garlic, onion and spinach, (making sure not to add any on the drained liquid to remaining bechamel). Stir and remove from heat.   

Riccotta Filling

Ingredients

2 300g of ricotta cheese

1 egg

salt & pepper

Mix the above ingredients in a bowl until the egg is well incorporated 

1 cup of grated mozzarella cheese 

1 package of oven ready lasagna sheets

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9x9 in baking pan.  Scoop a couple of TBSP of mushroon mixture on to the bottom of the pan.  line pan with first layer of noodles.  Cover noodles with 1/2 of the mushroom & spinach mixture.  Line the pan with second layer of noodles and cover with riccotta filling.  Cover with third layer of noodles followed with remaining mushroom and spinach and 1/2 cup of cheese.  Place the final layer of noodles over cheese and cover with the reserved bechamel sauce.  Cover with foil, and bake on the lower rack of the oven for 30 minutes until sauce starts to bubble.  Remove pan from oven and remove foil. Turn up oven to 500F. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over bechamel and return to oven. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from oven, lightly cover with foil and rest for 15/20 minutes.  Serve with a side salad or garlic bread