Lasagna Spinaci (Italian Spinach Lasagna)

Submitted by JelsMom

"Indulgent taste with low-fat ingredients. It's not only delicious, but DH doesn't mind the spinach, which is quite an accomplishment!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 20mins
• Ingredients: 20
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• Sauce

• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup white onion, diced
• 3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
• 2 tablespoons unbleached cane sugar
• 1 garlic clove, minced

• Pasta

• 12 whole wheat lasagna noodles
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 15 ounces fat-free ricotta cheese
• 3 cups chopped spinach
• 1⁄2 cup fresh parmesan cheese, shredded
• 2 tablespoons kalamata olives, finely chopped (optional)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1⁄4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1⁄4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1⁄4 cup fat free mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 -2 cup cooked italian sausage (optional)

directions

1. Prepare marinara: Saute onions in saucepan. Do not brown.
2. Add liquid drained from diced tomatoes.
3. Add basil, Italian seasoning, oregano, sugar & red peppers.
4. Simmer 30 minutes or until reduced by half.
5. Add all tomatoes & garlic, and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat & set aside.
6. Prepare Pasta: Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse, return to pot & cover w/ cold water.
7. Prepare Filling: Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium heat.
8. Add garlic and cook 20 seconds. Add spinach and cook, stirring often, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to bowl.
9. Stir in ricotta, parmesan, olives, crushed red pepper, salt and 1/2-2/3 c marinara.
10. Spread 1/3-1/2 cup marinara in bottom of 9x13" baking dish.
11. Line bottom of baking dish with single layer of lasagna noodles. Spoon layer of filling over noodles and spread evenly.
12. If desired, add layer of cooked Italian sausage. Repeat layers. Top with marinara sauce & mozarella.
13. Bake 20-25 minutes until bubbling & cheese melted.
14. Can be frozen up to 1 month.

Reviews

[Ms. Carolina]

I made this last night for 15 of my friends. It was sooo good. I followed the recipe almost exactly but left out the optional ingredients. When I make it again I will use 4 or 5 cups spinach. Yummmy. I made extra marinara, which i will be enjoying tonight!

 

[Luckeydevil]

A little time consuming but very well worth it!! I did add more spinach. This was so FRESH tasting! Well done, thanks for sharing. I will be making this again.

 

[tommie.miller]

This was my first time making homemade lasagna and it was DELICIOUS! For those who used the Prego you missed the 2nd to best part! I will use that sauce recipe for spagetti from now on. The best part I thought was the ricotta and parm cheese with the spinach! EXCELLENT! Thank you for this recipe!

 

[choc lover]

I chose this recipe to make for a work luncheon when I had volunteered to make a vegetarian lasagna. I had to make 20 serves so I doubled the recipe and left out the sausage. I received a number of compliments for this dish afterwards and had to confess that it was a "first try recipe". Thanks for a relatively simple and tasty meatless lasagna.

 

[DbKnadler]

This is a delicious recipe. But I must confess that I used jarred sauce rather than taking the time to make from scratch. I happened to have some Prego on hand since it was on sale a couple weeks ago.