After a little brainstorming and looking through my pantry/fridge to see what else I had on hand, I decided on this lasagna. I had never heard of a spinach and artichoke version, but it sounded good and I was sure it would work. I did a google search, reviewed a few recipes, and headed to the grocery.
My inspiration recipe was this Spinach Lasagna from cookinglight.com, and I used the recipe on the back of the Barilla Oven Ready Lasagne Pasta (i.e. no-boil) box for my layering method and proportions.
I love lasagna...my way. I really don't care for the traditional ricotta cheese and my mom used cottage cheese and I didn't like that either. I leave both out of my recipe. As with any dish, adding veggies lightens the calories and fat per serving...so I always add some kind of vegetable (I have a really good recipe for a roasted vegetable lasagna). Sometimes I add a protein, but if I do its usually shredded chicken (although I'm not opposed to ground beef, I just prefer chicken...I usually buy a rotisserie chicken to save time).
My brother Adam, who thinks I'm turning into a vegetarian (I'm not!!), wasn't excited about eating my meatless version. I should have known better!
Things to note:
- no-boil noodles are the way to go...so easy! Barilla is my favorite brand...their noodles are flatter; and realize you can't substitute regular lasagna noodles (even if you have already boiled them) in this recipe
- you could make your own pasta sauce, but if you do buy it from the store read this past post first (there are 2 links for homemade sauces too)
- I used ½ fresh spinach that I sauteed and chopped and ½ frozen that I defrosted...the recipe below is for all frozen/thawed
- this is a make-ahead recipe, so you can refrigerate or freeze it for a later use
Spinach and Artichoke Lasagna
create by me!
makes 4 servings
4 ounces low-fat cream cheese (or 1/3-less fat neufchatel)
8 ounces fat-free Greek yogurt
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 large eggs
2 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
2 15-ounce cans artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
9 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 27.5-ounce jars low-fat pasta sauce (5 g of fat or less per serving)
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
If baking right away, preheat oven to 400°.
Beat the cream cheese at medium speed with a mixer until smooth; add the yogurt, Parmesan cheese, and eggs, beating well. Add the spinach, artichokes, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning; beat well.
In a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray, layer in the following order, spreading well:
- 1 cup pasta sauce
- 3 noodles
- 1/3 of the spinach mixture
- 1/3 of the cheese
- 1 cup pasta sauce
- 3 noodles
- 1/3 of the spinach mixture
- 1/3 of the cheese
- 1 ½ cups pasta sauce
- 3 noodles
- 1/3 of the spinach mixture
- 1 cup pasta sauce
- 1/3 of the cheese
If baking right away: Cover with foil that has been sprayed with cooking spray, and bake at 400° for 15 - 20 minutes until the sauce is bubbly around the edges. Uncover and continue baking for an additional 25 - 30 minutes, until the cheese is browned in spots. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
To store without baking: Wrap dish tightly with plastic wrap and then foil and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 1 month. If frozen, the lasagna must be thawed completely in the refrigerator, for about 24 hours. Bake as described above, increasing the covered baking time to 30 - 40 minutes.
Per serving - 331 calories, 13 g fat (6 g saturated), 36 g carbohydrate, 7 g sugar, 6 g fiber, 26 g protein (exchanges: 1 starch, 2 vegetables, 3 protein, 2 ½ fat)
Notes - If you have a "meat eater" in the family, you could add layers of shredded cooked chicken between the cheese and spinach layers; the servings are pretty big...you might be able to get 10 servings out of it
Wow does this ever sound good! Can't wait to try it! Thanks Blair.
ReplyDeleteBlair I'll try this but not sure if Steve will eat it. Sounds great. Su
ReplyDelete