It’s that time of year when our family routine is now in back to school mode. Anyone else? It’s also that time of year for me to have some meal plan for the busy weeknights ahead. Having a meal plan seems more important during the school year because our family schedule is pretty crazy. One way I can stick to my meal plan is to have some make ahead meals… and baked casseroles and pastas are my go to ideas. Lasagnas are especially good since they are easy to put together and will last at least a day or two for leftover lunches.
Another goal of mine is to incorporate more vegetables into our diets. That said, this particular recipe includes spinach and mushrooms to cross that goal off the list. I found the mushrooms lends a meaty texture and the spinach adds some green (which is always a good thing). Lasagna recipes are always pretty flexible and you can substitute with other vegetables if you wanted or even add protein (pepperoni, sausage, chopped meatballs, shredded chicken, etc). The flexibility of lasagna recipes allows you to make it your own. This recipe also is better the next day so if you’re looking for an easy lunch, this makes for excellent leftovers!
Spinach & Mushroom Lasagna
ingredients:
- 16 oz cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, sliced into ribbons, plus more for garnish
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups fresh mushrooms, quartered
- 2 cups fresh spinach leaves
- 8 oz of uncooked lasagna sheets
- 32 oz spaghetti sauce
- 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- In a medium bowl, combine cottage cheese, basil, parsley, garlic salt, Italian seasoning and egg; mix together and set aside.
- In a skillet set over medium heat, add oil. When hot, add mushrooms to skillet and saute until softened and begin to shrink; add spinach leaves and toss until wilted.
- Transfer mushrooms and spinach to cheese mixture and stir to combine.
- Lightly grease a 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray. Add 1/3 of spaghetti sauce into baking pan and spread to coat bottom.
- Place half of lasagna sheets on the bottom of sauced pan; top uncooked lasagna sheet layer with 1/2 of cottage cheese and vegetable mixture; top cheese and vegetable layer with 2/3 cup of shredded cheese.
- Repeat layering with 1/2 of remaining sauce, remaining lasagna sheets, remaining cottage cheese and vegetable mixture and 1/2 of remaining shredded cheese.
- Top the lasagna with the remaining sauce; cover baking pan with foil and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.
- Remove the foil and add the remaining shredded cheese on the top. Let sit and rest for 15 minutes before cutting into squares.
- Garnish with fresh basil, if desired, before serving.
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