Doing Dinner #2: Creamy Spinach and Broccoli Lasagna

My Mama always comes home from work so tired and usually hungry. I feel bad whenever she makes dinner, so lately, I've been making it! Here are the results:

Look at all of that ooey, gooey, cheesy goodness!

One of my favorite magazines ever is Woman's Day. I found their recipe and decided to give it a go!

Creamy Spinach and Broccoli Lasagna
(adapted from Woman's Day)

Makes: 4 very large portions

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 12-oz. package frozen spinach
• 1 12-oz. package frozen broccoli
• 1 15-oz. container or 425 g reduced fat ricotta cheese
• 1 1/2 c. shredded part-skim mozzarella
• 1/2 c. grated parmesan (original recipe asked for romano, so pick whichever because all cheese is good)
• 1 c. 1% milk
• 4-oz. (half a brick) reduced fat cream cheese, cut into pieces
• 1/8-1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 8 no-boil lasagna noodles

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over med-low heat. Add the onion, salt and pepper; cook and cover, stirring occasionally, until tender (about 6-8 minutes).
2. Meanwhile, thaw the broccoli and spinach. Squeeze excess water out of the spinach and drain the broccoli. Roughly chop both and place into a large bowl. Mix in the ricotta, 1 c. mozzarella and 1/4 c. parmesan.
3. Add in the garlic to the onion mixture and cook for an additional minute.
4. Add the milk to the onion mixture and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and mix in the cream cheese, nutmeg and remaining 1/4 c. parmesan.
5. Gently simmer (don't boil!) until slightly thickened (2-3 minutes).
6. Preheat oven to 425° F.
7. Spread 1/2 c. of cheese sauce onto the bottom of an 8"x8" baking pan. 
8. Place two noodles on top; layer with 1/4 remaining cheese sauce, 1/4 ricotta mixture and two more noodles. Repeat thrice. (note: completely cover each noodle, or else they will turn leathery)
9. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/2 c. mozzarella.
10. Cover with tin foil and bake about 25 minutes.
11. Take off the tin foil and bake an additional 10 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
12. Test the noodles for doneness: if a knife does not go through easily, replace the tin foil over the top and put back in the oven until noodles are tender.

 Done!

Exposure got all wonky... But look at the layers of deliciousness!

This lasagna reminded me of fettucini alfredo a bit. The four types of cheese made it really, really good!

Happy cooking!

xx Lindsay