I need a good spinach lasagna recipe
Preston Crawford
for my brother and my wife. They're getting into eating vegetarian (even
though they aren't) and I'd like to continue the momentum, by throwing
together something fun and yummy.
Preston
mari...@mindspring.com
sauce; use really good pasta. Between the layers of pasta, you could
alternate a sauteed spinach/ricotta mixture with maybe thinly sliced sauteed
eggplant & spinach (eggplant lends a richness and depth of flavor that may
compensate for whatever meat flavors your non-veggie friends may be
expecting). Make sure you are using really excellent, extra-virgin olive
oil that is thick and green and fragrant; the junk they sell in supermarkets
might as well be motor oil.
Preston Crawford
actual recipe. :-)
Preston
Puchitao
lot of modification. (For example, I've made it vegan before and it's
turned out fine.)
Spinach-Artichoke Lasagne
1 med onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can (14 1/2 oz) vegetable broth
1 tsp rosemary leaves
1 can artichoke hearts (14 oz.), drained and chopped
1 pkg. frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed dry
1 jar's worth (~24 oz?) white sauce (alfredo, garlic parmesan, wild
mushroom, herb bechamel, etc.)
9 uncooked lasagne noodles (or, if you're using the old-fashioned noodles
instead of the instant kind, 9 cooked, very al dente.)
3 cups shredded mozzarella
4 oz crumbled feta (herb & garlic flavored works well)
Heat oven to 350. Oil a 9x13 pan and a skillet. Cook the onion & the
garlic approx. 3 min. Stir in broth and rosemary; heat to boiling. Add
artichokes & spinach; cover and simmer 5 min. Spread 1/4 of the spinach
mixture and white sauce in bottom the pan. Top with 3 noodles, then 1/4 of
the mozarella. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with feta. Cover & bake 40 min.
Uncover and bake 15 more min. Let stand 10-15 minutes before cutting.
Options & Tips:
-- I add some thyme and sage to the oil or butter at the very beginning,
while cooking the onions. (Also, I tend to cook the onions longer.)
-- My mom adds mushrooms to each layer.
-- Roasted red peppers work well, too.
-- Go for lower-quality feta; better quality feta will often have rennet in
it.
That's pretty much all there is to it. If you need a white sauce recipe,
reply.
Pat Littell
Preston wrote...
Tara Turner
the supermarket being of poor quality, Where would one buy a high quality
olive oil?
marioncap wrote...
> .... Make sure you are using really excellent, extra-virgin olive
Tara Deen
Try a specialty gourmet store, or a good deli. It's getting in Australia
now, that it is indeed possible to buy a decent organic olive oil for
not too much money in the supermarkets. Several are of Aussie origin,
and are giving the Italian and Spanish oils a run for their money. Just
remember the basic rule of thumb: buy the greenest, darkest oil you can
find.
The other Tara
Scott Aguirre
Puchitao wrote...
> This is one of my mom's old recipes; it's pretty easy and can withstand a
> lot of modification. (For example, I've made it vegan before and it's
> turned out fine.)<snipped>
Puchitao
news:B92w6.1037$aP5....@newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net...
> Looks wonderful! But could you explain how you made it vegan, please?
No prob. The first thing (of course) is to either leave out the cheese or
replace it with a vegan cheese-substitute. If you go that route, make sure
you find a sort that melts well; I've found some that melt great, and others
that just kinda get hot but maintain their shape. I don't buy enough of it
to know which brands melt and which don't -- the only time I really buy them
is when I have vegan dinner guests, and then only rarely. Unless you have a
sort of vegan cheese you really like, I'd just leave it out.
If you leave off the mozzarella, it might be a little thinner, so add
another layer if you have a couple extra noodles. The feta is just an
afterthought; I never add it even in the original.
The sauce is the tricky part; not cooking vegan very often, I still have a
lot to learn about making vegan cream sauces. When I made it, I blended
firm tofu, some whole soy milk, some onions, garlic, various herbs, and some
pesto; the final result turned out fine (although it was a little dry since
I forgot the broth ingredient in the lasagne.)
Although I've never tried it, I hear you can make a good, untraditional
vegan bechamel by replacing the butter with oil and the milk with soy milk.
Here's essentially how (an herbed version of) it would go:
3 1/2 tbsp. oil (say, olive or walnut oil)
3 1/2 tbsp. flour
2 cups soy milk (or almond, or rice... I've even heard vegetable stock can
work) (dark walnut oil and almond milk would be an interesting combination;
almost a salsa di noci sorta thing)
salt & white pepper
various herbs, to taste (say, thyme, sage, chervil or parsley, rosemary)
Make the roux: In a saucepan, mix together the oil and flour into a thick
mixture and cook for maybe 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Make the sauce: Whisk in the soy milk, and bring the sauce to a boil. (No
need to worry about scalding, since you're not using milk.) Turn the heat
to low and cook for about a half hour, stirring occasionally. (It's
important
to cook it for a long time; the first time I made a bechamel I rushed it and
it turned out all grainy.)
Add the herbs: There are several times and places you can add the herbs.
You can steep them in the (heated) soy milk for awhile before you make the
sauce, you can fold them in once the sauce is done, or you can add them to
the oil before you add the flour. I do the latter, mostly because I like
the smells it produces.
HTH,
Pat Littell
Evelyn Ruut
message news:lyWt6.597760$U46.18...@news1.sttls1.wa.home.com...
Preston,
This one is a bit different but it is so delicious you won't believe it.
"Different? Spinach Lasagna
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach
1 pkg cream cheese (softened)
1 egg
¼ cup chopped onion
¼ cup grated Romano cheese
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup of shredded Mozzarella
1 jar of prepared tomato sauce (small Prego)
12 cooked lasagna noodles
Note: this can be rolled into individual rollatini?s or it can be layered
as described below.
If you layer it, it is best to double the quantities above.
1.. Boil noodles till done.
2.. Cook spinach according to directions and squeeze dry
3.. Chop onions and mince garlic
4.. Blend till smooth, spinach, garlic & onion, grated cheese, egg, cream
cheese.
5.. Pour some sauce in bottom of pan, then add a layer of noodles
6.. Spread a thin layer of filling and sprinkle it with mozzarella
7.. Repeat layers as needed
8.. Finish with a layer of noodles, sauce and mozzarella
Bake at 300 for 3/4 hour - allow to cool a bit before serving
Serve with a nice crusty bread and a salad!
