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.
Pasta. Mozzarella. Ricotta. Spinach. Garlic. Pesto.
Sounds good.
But when these ingredients come together, it doesn't only sound good, it tastes amazing.
These jumbo shells were out of this world. I mean it. When I tasted them, I was almost crying. I couldn't believe how well they turned out! The filling was so creamy and so, so good. It rarely happens when I don't know what could be improved in a dish. And this time it happened! Really, they were perfect. And I ate 8 shells at once. I felt a bit guilty because one serving is 4 shells. As always.
Spinach, Ricotta and Pesto stuffed Jumbo Shells
200g jumbo pasta shells
250g ricotta
100g spinach, chopped
200g mozzarella, grated
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp pesto sauce
1/3 tsp salt
pinch white pepper
2 cups pasta sauce*
*I used half homemade half Heinz.
1) Preheat oven to 180 deg. C.
2) Boil pasta shells to al dente. Pour on cold water and coat with a dash of olive oil so they don't stick together.
3) In a medium bowl, combine together ricotta, spinach, 150g mozzarella, egg, garlic, dried oregano, pesto, salt and white pepper. Set aside.
4) Coat the bottom of your baking dish with 1 cup of pasta sauce.
5) Fill pasta shells with the filling and place them into the baking dish. Top with remaining pasta sauce and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.
6) Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes.
