Ingredients:
• For the Bechamel (White) sauce:
• 2 tbsp – Butter
• 1/2 cup – finely chopped Onion
• 1/2 tbsp – Garlic paste (minced Garlic)
• 2 tbsp – all – purpose flour
• 1.75 cups – 2per cent Milk
• 1/4 tsp – Nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp – salt
• 1 – Bay Leaf
• Ground pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup – Parmesan cheese (you can use cheese that comes grated in small containers)
• For the Pasta and layering:
• 6 – brown Rice lasagne sheets (you can use any kind of pasta)
• 5 oz – whole Milk ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup – Parmesan cheese
• 4 oz – fresh Mozzarella cheese, crumbled (you can use any other cheese too)
• Pinch of salt
• For the Spinach and Mushroom stuffing:
• 10 oz (about 300 gm) – fresh spinach, with trimmed ends
• 1/2 tbsp – salt
• 4 oz – Button mushrooms, trimmed and sliced thick
Method:
- Steam spinach or blanch it in boiling salted water for about 10 seconds or until just wilted.
- Transfer to a cold water bath or just sprinkle cold water to stop it from cooking further and let it cool. It takes about a minute.
- Now squeeze out the water as much as possible. Chop it coarsely and set aside.
- In a pan, melt 1 tbsp butter and add the mushrooms. Cook them until slightly browned. Set aside.
- In the same pan, melt 2 tbsp butter in medium heat until it starts foaming. Add the onion and garlic pasta and cook, whisking it until the onions are soft.
- Next, add in the flour and cook – keep whisking it to avoid the butter from browning.
- Gradually add in the milk and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Keep whisking it.
- Add the bay leaf, nutmeg, salt and pepper and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. Whisk it on and off.
- When you find the mixture is thick and saucy, add in the Parmesan cheese and whisk until mixed. Remove the bay leaf.
- Set aside about 1/4 cup of the sauce and in the remaining sauce, whisk in the spinach until well combined. You would have around 2 cups of the spinach and Bechamel sauce.
- While this is happening, in another pan, cook pasta according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- In another bowl, whisk the ricotta cheese along with salt until smooth. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Grease your baking dish with some butter. You can use a 6 cup (1.5 L) 8X6X2 dish for example or whatever you have.
- Layer the bottom with some Bechamel sauce (about 1/4 cup that you set aside).
- Now place 3 lasagne sheets on top of it, side by side.
- Spread about 1/2 cup of the spinach mixture. Sprinkle Parmesan over the spinach mixture.
- Layer that again with 3 more sheets. Layer that with 1/2 cup spinach mixture and 1/2 cup of Mozzarella cheese.
- Layer the ricotta cheese mixture over it and spread until it covers the layer, followed by mushrooms.
- Cover with remaining spinach mixture completely enclosing the pasta and toss in the Mozzarella cheese as last layer.
- Cover the top with foil (grease the inner side of the foil with some oil so that it doesn’t stick to the cheese) and bake for 10-15 minutes or until it starts bubbling.
- Remove the foil and broil the lasagne for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is browned in spots.
- Let it cool for about 10 minutes and then cut it into pieces.
- Recipe Courtesy: http://chefinyou.com/