I love experimenting. But what I love most is when these experiments turn out great. Just like this green lasagna. When I cut the first slice I was amazed by the bright green colour. What surprised me even more, was the perfect texture. It was so easy to slice it nicely and take it out of the baking pan without leaving it in the room temperature after baking to set. But actually when I saw that green colour, I was a little bit scared - I was afraid there was too much spinach! And this is how the story began. My mother brought a few large bags of spinach from her own garden. So that meant I had to think of something delicious to make to use up these spinach. I searched for a recipe, browsed the tried ones until I found lasagna noodles in my cupboard and came up with idea of making green lasagna.
And that was a very good idea.
The taste was amazing! There wasn't too much spinach. The layers were creamy and so so good. I took too many photos again.. But at least you can see how this lasagna looks from every angle.
Spinach & Ricotta Lasagna
14 no-boil lasagna noodles
4 packed cups chopped spinach (about 300g)*
2 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 white bell pepper, chopped
60g parmesan cheese
100g mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
400g ricotta cheese
2 cups pasta sauce
1/3 tsp salt
pinch ground pepper
*I packed the cups with already chopped spinach very tightly. It might be more than 300g - this is just an approximate measurement. I think it will be ok if you add a little more or less of them.
1)
Heat oil in a pan and add onions and bell pepper. Saute until softened
and lightly golden. Add garlic and saute a little more. Turn off the
heat and let cool a bit.
2) In a large bowl, lightly
beat the eggs. Add ricotta, spinach, half of parmesan and half of
mozzarella cheese. Add salt and pepper. When the onion/bell pepper mixture has cooled, add it to the spinach mixture. Mix everything until combined.
3) Preheat oven to 180C and prepare a 23x23 square baking dish.
4)
Pour 1 cup of pasta sauce onto the bottom of your baking dish and coat
it evenly. Place lasagna noodles on top. Spread some spinach mixture on
top of them. Repeat these steps 3 times (except for the pasta sauce).
Finally, spread the remaining pasta sauce onto the noodles and sprinkle
with the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and
bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for additional 15-20 minutes. Let
sit for about 15 minutes before serving.
I don't know how many times I found myself staring at mozzarella stick pictures on the internet. They look so good with all that melty cheese and crispy bread crumbs around it. I can't tell you how happy I am that I finally made them myself! For some reason, it often takes so much time for me when I decide to make something yummy that I've been craving for a long time.
Enough about these mozzarella sticks. You probably already know that they are amazing.
But this French onion dip...
This is MORE than amazing. Basically it seems like a simple dip. But these c a r a m e l i z e d onions change everything. It adds sweetness to a sour/salty dip. Actually I think that onions make every meal taste much better, they are my favourite ingredient. Especially when they are caramelized.
I hope you're already checking if you have all the ingredients and are preparing to make this right now. If you're too lazy to make mozzarella sticks, do make this dip because it's so good with everything. Really, so good.
Mozzarella Sticks
12 sticks of mozzarella string cheese
1/2 cup flour
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 - 2 cups bread crumbs
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika flakes
1 tsp white pepper
1 tbsp dried oregano*
oil for frying
*You may use/omit any seasoning you like. For example, I also like it with dried basil.
**The amount of the ingredients may vary here: it depends how much you flour the sticks or how much bread crumbs stick to your cheese so be ready to add some more ingredients if needed.
1) Place flour in a small dish. In another bowl, combine together eggs
and milk. In a third bowl, combine bread crumbs with garlic powder, sweet smoked paprika flakes, pepper and oregano. Cut mozzarella sticks into
halves.
2) Roll a half of mozzarella in flour, dip into egg-milk mixture, and roll in
bread crumb mixture. Press crumbs in place so mozzarella stick is fully
coated. Continue with remaining pieces. Place coated
mozzarella sticks on a baking sheet and freeze for at least
30 minutes.
3) Heat oil in a heavy saucepan. Remove frozen mozzarella
sticks and fry a few pieces at a time. Fry about 30 seconds - 1 minute (depending on the heat), turning sticks until they are golden brown, and drain on paper towels. Continue with remaining sticks.
Serve with french onion dip. Avocado-garlic dip and garlic-dill dip is also fine!! Eat these while hot!
French Onion Dip
2 large onions, finely
chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
200g sour cream
2 tbsp mayonnaise
large pinch salt
large pinch white pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1) Place onions and oil into a small saucepan and cook until onions are dark brown color, stiring occasionaly.
2) Drain any liquid off the
onions and let cool completely. Combine onions with remaining ingredients in a small
bowl. Add salt to taste.
Spinach & Ricotta Lasagna
