Love lasagna? Does your greasy, meaty, high-calorie version need a makeover? This super easy recipe nixes the meat as well as substitutes whole wheat lasagna noodles for traditional white, and uses part-skim cheeses. You also get a dose of healthy spinach in this cheesy one-dish meal. Filling ingredients are mixed in a food processor to reduce prep time.
This lasagna is great for a potluck or healthy vegetarian family meal. It’s perfect for kids, too, as there are no big chunks of spinach; it’s all blended into the creamy filling. Kids can also easily assist in making this one, layering noodles and spreading the sauce and filling.
Note: When draining the thawed spinach, remove as much water as possible. You can drain it in a colander in the sink and then press squeeze out the water with your hands.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
13.5 oz. package whole wheat lasagna (you may have some extra)
12 oz. package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
8 oz. part-skim mozzarella cheese (set aside ½ cup)
2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
¼ cup parmesan cheese AND extra for topping
1 jar of spaghetti sauce (I like Classico Tomato and Basil)
salt and pepper to taste
cooking spray
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add whole wheat pasta, one piece at a time to prevent sticking. Boil for 5-6 minutes or until al dente.
- While pasta boils, place drained spinach, mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, and salt and pepper in work bowl of food processor with blade attachment.
- Process until uniform. Should be a pale green with tiny pieces of spinach throughout.
- Spray an 11.5 x 8 pan (or pan of your choice) with cooking spray.
- Add a thin layer of spaghetti sauce to the bottom of the pan.
- Place one layer of lasagna noodles over sauce.
- Spread 1/3 of spinach and cheese mixture over noodles.
- Spread a layer of spaghetti sauce over cheese and spinach mixture.
- Top with noodles.
- Repeat until all spinach mixture is used.
- For the top layer, cover lasagna noodles with sauce and the remaining ½ cup of mozzarella. You can also sprinkle with more parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes until cheese is golden and bubbly.