Week 7: White Spinach Lasagna

Vegetable ingredient: Spinach


I had talked about wanting to make lasagna for a while, now it was my turn. There are lots of recipes, obviously, and it's hard to find something that doesn't make you think of artery blockage. I settled on Rachael Ray's (never watched her show) White Spinach Lasagna.

 

At the end, I had to switch on the broiler for a couple of minutes. My first time of using the broiler in our house (we moved in 8 months ago).

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter

• 4 tablespoons flour

• 2 cups milk

• 2 cups chicken stock

• A generous dash fresh nutmeg (love nutmeg!)

• Salt and ground black pepper

• 1 box oven-ready lasagna noodles  (from Trader Joe's, was surprised to see how many places sell lasagna noodles one is supposed to cook)

• 2 10-ounce boxes frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry

• 4 cups shredded Italian four-cheese blend (I used less. The arteries....)

Preparation: 


Preheat oven to 375ºF. Place a large saucepot over medium heat and melt the butter. Sprinkle the flour over the butter and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and chicken stock, and bring the sauce up to a bubble. Add in the nutmeg and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Simmer until the sauce thickens, 3-4 minutes. Assemble the lasagna by ladling a small amount (about 1/2 cup, just eyeball it) of the sauce into the bottom of a 13x9" baking dish. Lay three of the lasagna noodles over the sauce and top them with about 1/3 of the spinach. Top with about 1 cup of the sauce and about 1 cup of the shredded cheese (about 2 generous handfuls). Make two more layers of the lasagna by laying down three lasagna noodles, about 1/3 of the spinach, 1 cup of the sauce and about 1 cup shredded cheese for each layer. Top the lasagna off with the last three noodles, the remaining sauce, and the remaining shredded cheese. (I think I had fewer layers) Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake the lasagna for 30 minutes. Remove the foil from the baking dish and bake another 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.

Verdict: 8.5/10

Making this recipe felt like "real" cooking! It felt like a real dish!  Loved the nutmeg taste. Recipe would have fed 3-4 hungry people. My daughter liked the cheesy taste, but didn't touch the spinach. This would be a nice entree for when we have guests. Broiling at the end was crucial.