Spinach & Mushroom Lasagna

Saturday night I decided to make a Spinach & Mushroom Lasagna (originally found here). It worked out really well, and as of Monday after lunch, it is all gone. I actually ended up making two, since there was so much involved. You start by making a cream of mushroom soup, then assembling the lasagna, followed by baking. In the end, you get a cheesy, creamy baked pasta that is super satisfying.

To make it, you will need:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 375 g box of oven-ready lasagna noodles
• 454 g ricotta (small container)
• 600 g frozen chopped spinach (2 x 300 g packages), thawed & drained
• 400 g shredded mozzarella (about 3 packed cups)
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• 3 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 454 g cremini mushrooms, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 cups milk, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• pinch of nutmeg
• salt & pepper, to taste

The real pain was prepping everything, from chopping a whole pound of mushrooms, to thawing and draining the spinach, and shredding all that cheese. I also cut my noodles dry by scoring with a knife then snapping along the score line to fit in an 8 x 8 square baking dish.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, mushrooms, and onion. Cook until tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Whisk in flour with a fork until lightly browned (an actual whisk will just get filled with veggie bits, trust me).
4. Gradually stir in milk while fork-whisking constantly until slightly thickened. Just when you think it may never thicken and this is your life now, it will.
5. Stir in 1 tbsp of basil (a third of what you chopped), nutmeg, and oregano. Stir in salt & pepper to taste, remove from heat.
6. In one 9 x 13 baking dish (or split across two 8 x 8 dishes like I have done), spread 1 cup of the mushroom soup. Cover with lasagna noodles in a single layer, half the ricotta, half the spinach, 1/3 of the mozzarella, and 1/3 of the Parmesan. Repeat with a second layer of soup, noodles, ricotta, spinach, and cheeses. Cover with a layer of lasagna noodles, and the remaining soup, topped with cheeses and remaining basil.
7. Bake for 40 minutes, soup will be bubbling. Broil for 3 minutes to brown the cheeses on top.
8. Let sit for 15 minutes, and enjoy!

We ended up with two decently large lasagnas, and like I said, they are all gone now. The mushroom soup was really hearty on its own, and I would be interested in it alone on a crisp fall day. This was a really tasty and satisfying vegetarian dish where I didn't miss the meat.