Spinach & Mushroom Lasagna

Mushroom Spinach Lasagna

A wonderful, vegetarian (not vegan), lasagna recipe that we particularly like to make during the Lenten season.

I love the concept of traditional Italian lasagna. For me, it can be too heavy, but oh so delicious.  Since I always have homemade spaghetti sauce in my freezer, making lasagna is always a possibility.

When the Lenten season rolls around (the 40 days before Easter), we spend every Friday meatless – my spaghetti sauce has pork sausage. Over the years of Meatless Fridays, I have gathered many wonderful recipes. We definitely have our favorites. I am always on the hunt for more variety. Besides, who am I to say no to a great recipe?

I found this recipe in one of the hundreds, literally, cooking magazines my mother and I have collectively hoarded over the last couple decades. In the interest of purging the tower of bankers boxes in the garage, I’ve been going through them and cutting out recipes.

This was one of them. 

Since there are only three of us, I tried to make a smaller batch. We still got three meals out of it – two dinners and a freezer meal.

As with most lasagnas, this one takes some time. But it is worth it!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Prep noodles

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. I always throw in a tablespoon or so of salt to my pasta water. This, of course, is optional. But it does impart a bit more flavor into your pasta noodles.  I did not want to pull out a large pot, I stubbornly pulled out a medium pot, placed six noodles in standing up. Let them soften for about 30 seconds and then was able to bend them the rest of the way into the pot.

You don’t want to cook the pasta until it is lifeless. You are going for al dente. Which means your pasta will still retain a bit of structure but pliable. Remember, your pasta will continue to cook when it is assembled and in the oven. Boil for about 6 minutes.

Drain your pasta and rinse it under cold water. I opted to lay out my noodles on a paper towel covered cutting board so the noodles wouldn’t stick together.

Cook the veggies

In a large skillet heat 2 T olive oil over medium high heat.

I used half the mushrooms and spinach the recipe called for because I used a smaller pan in hopes of not having seven days worth of food. It worked – we only had three! I also only used one type of pre-sliced mushrooms. I know, unclench your pearls – it turned out delicious.

The recipe said to scatter the mushrooms and leave them to brown. Umm, well, I didn’t scatter as much as dump and spread. As long as you don’t have a pile of shrooms and allow them to brown fairly evenly, the same end result is achieved.

Once they cook for about 1 to minutes, give the mushrooms a stir so they can brown on the other side. It takes about 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Or until all the liquid been cooked out.

While the mushrooms are browning, make sure the spinach is completely thawed and drained. I like to drain mine in a fine mesh sieve with cheesecloth. Yes, it is a little redundant. But I can ring out the spinach much easier when it is in cheesecloth. The metal sieve doesn’t bend as well…

Once the mushrooms are done, add another tablespoon of oil and stir in your drained spinach, chopped garlic and thyme. Or if you are like me, you will add your spinach, garlic powder and sprinkle in some dried thyme. I severely dislike chopping garlic even though I have a fancy garlic press. So, most of the time if the garlic is not being sauteed, I opt for powder form. But this time I went all out and used the fancy garlic press.

Stir together until well mixed and allow to cool slightly.

Cheese mixture

While the veggies are cooling, mix ricotta, ½ c parmesan, egg, and parsley together. While I was aiming to make the lasagna a bit smaller, I still kept the proportions for this mixture the same. We are nothing if not cheese lovers. I may have also added a dash more parm. Only a tablespoon of two more. Any more and you risk the mixture becoming too dry or salty. I opted out of adding any pepper or salt. There was enough parmesan, I felt, for saltiness. Why omit the pepper? In all honesty, my hands had raw egg on them, and the pepper was too far away. Yeah, I know, sometimes sacrifices need to be made.

Assembly

Okay, so the directions on the original recipe can be a bit confusing. They’re just a bit unnecessary. You are to lay the noodles in such a way that the top layer is completely enveloped in noodles. I’m a simple woman. While I appreciate fancy, this was something I didn’t think would make a monumental difference in my lasagna’s taste or presentation. No one would be able to tell if my top layer was completely encased in noodles or not.

I simply spread a thin layer of marinara on the bottom of a 8×8 dish. (Remember, I was going for smaller.)

Laid my noodles along the bottom, slightly over lapping. Allowing the ends to curl up the sides.

Spread half the ricotta mixture over the noodles – carefully. The noodles have a tendency to shift if you press too hard.

Top with half the spinach mixture.  

Sprinkle 1/3 cheese over top. Unless you are like us, you layer more than sprinkle. Be aware that there is such things as too much cheese in lasagna. Too much cheese and it might be difficult to tell when your lasagna has set. And then it will slide all over the place in a greasy puddle once served.  Spread 1 ½ c marinara over the cheese. Spread may not have been the best choice of words. Spreading sauce over shredded cheese is not the easiest task. Instead, try to evenly, carefully, pour the sauce over.

Repeat.

Layer another four noodles, in the opposite direction from the bottom noodles. For example, if you laid the noodles from top to bottom, layer them from left to right. Parallel vs. perpendicular.

Press down slightly on the noodles before adding any more layers. But not hard enough that previous layers come squishing out between the noodles. Allowing the excess to fold up the sides.

Add the rest of the ricotta mixture. Followed by the remaining spinach mixture. And then another third of cheese.  And then pour 1 c marinara over the cheese.

Notice that there is no marinara in this second layer.

Add the last layer of noodles over top. Again in the opposite direction of the last noodle layer. Pressing lightly.

I cut off the excess noodles to fit in my dish. A nice little treat for my daughter you loves ‘naked noodles.’ 

The original instructions prevented this overhang, I get it, but this was more fun for my daughter. And let’s face it, that’s all that really matters.

Spread, yes spread, the remaining 1 c marinara over top of the noodles.

Sprinkle, or layer, remaining shredded cheese over top. Sprinkle with ½ c parmesan cheese.

Bake

Cover dish with foil. Tenting it so it does not touch the cheese. The last thing you want is to pull back the foil and have it take the top layer of cheese with it. Bummer!

Cover a baking sheet with foil, or a silicone baking mat, as well and stick the lasagna dish on it. When your dish in getting all hot and bubbly in the oven, chances are good that it might bubble over the edge. Hence the baking sheet. If, or when, when it bubbles over, you are not going to pull it our of the oven to clean off the baking sheet. The sauce is going to burn. And cleaning burnt sauce straight off a metal baking dish is not really my idea of fun. I’d rather enjoy my lasagna.

Bake for 40 minutes or until bubbly along the edges. Remove foil and back another 20-30 minutes. Until it has browned and formed a crusty top.

Let your lasagna rest for 15 minutes before slicing. Cutting into a piping-straight-out-of-the-oven lasagna can result in it sliding all over the place before ever hitting a plate.

And Enjoy!

Let me know your preferred way to lay lasagna noodles. What is your favorite type of lasagna? Meat, veg, or all cheese?