Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna
To me, lasagna is the ultimate comfort food. I love a big, warm, gooey slice, with perhaps a piece of soft garlicky french bread on the side to mop up any remaining sauce.
The real beauty of it is that you can easily incorporate vegetables into it. My kids LOVE vegetables so I am not trying to hide them or anything, but I like that I can get extra ones in and no one even notices! Yesterday my kids ate spinach twice in the same day and they loved it.
I made this particular recipe with chopped chicken but I had intended to make it with ground turkey. Unfortunately when I went to get the turkey out of the freezer the other day to thaw it, I discovered our freezer leaked and then froze and the turkey was encased in ice and I couldn’t get it out. But I think it just goes to show how versatile this meal really is. You can use ground beef, ground chicken or turkey or just some cooked chicken breasts shredded or chopped. I will just write down what I did and let you decide….
- 1 package lasagna noodles (I typically use a whole grain pasta but either works for this)
- 1 32oz jar of Spaghetti Sauce - I usually can my own but one we like from the store is: Classico Roasted Tomato and Basil spaghetti sauce
- 1 8oz container whole milk ricotta cheese
- 16oz fresh mozzarella, cut into ½" chunks (I made about 6 thin slices to put on top also)
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons fresh basil, minced
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 2 big handfuls fresh spinach
- 8oz crimini mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cups chopped chicken (or other ground meat)
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- Preheat the oven to 400º.
- In a medium mixing bowl combine the ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, egg, basil, oregano, spinach, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
- NOTE: If you are not using leftover meat for this, brown your meat now, in a medium skillet over high heat for ground meat.
- Pour a couple tablespoons of the sauce in the bottom of a 9x13" pan, then place 3-4 noodles in a single layer over the sauce.
- Then spread half the cheese mixture over the noodles as evenly as you can get it. Sprinkle half the mushrooms and half the chicken over the cheese mixture then cover with spaghetti sauce.
- Layer 3-4 more noodles over the top and repeat layers, ending with a layer of noodles. Top with a little more of the spaghetti sauce and then the mozzarella slices. Cover and bake about 40 minutes.
- Uncover and bake another 10 minutes just brown things up a bit, but if you are pressed for time you could skip this part.
- Remove and let set for about 10 minutes before serving.
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