White Lasagna with Spinach and Ricotta

KITCHEN	TIME	RECIPE FOR
ITALIAN	60 TO 90 MINUTES	6-8 PERSONS

INGREDIENTS:

For spinach and ricotta toppings:
Butter	1 tablespoon
Olive oil	1 tablespoon
Onion	1 pc.
Garlic	3 cloves (1 tablespoon)
Spinach (can be frozen)	400 g
Salt/Black pepper	Add to taste
Ricotta	500 g
Egg	1 pc.
Parmesan Grated	30 g
Ground Nutmeg	0.5 teaspoon
For white sauce:
Butter	30 g
Wheat flour	30 g
Milk 3.2%	500 ml
Ground Nutmeg	0.5 teaspoon
Mozzarella Cheese Grated	180 g
Hard cheese (Gruyere) grated	180 g
Salt/Black pepper	Add to taste
To build:
Lasagna Sheets	250 g (12-14 sheets)

Instruction:

I used a ceramic square baking dish measuring 21 by 21 cm in size, on the bottom of which 2 sheets of pasta fit well. The result was a fairly high lasagna with 6 layers of pasta. With this lasagna you can easily feed 6-8 adults.

For spinach and ricotta toppings:

1) Melt the butter in a large skillet with olive oil. Add finely chopped onions and crushed garlic, fry until transparent and pleasant aroma for about 2 minutes.

2) Add defrosted spinach to the onion, salt and pepper, fry, stirring while at the bottom of the pan there will be no wet traces of liquid.

3) Fold the spinach onto a metal sieve. Using a silicone spatula, squeeze out the remaining liquid from the spinach filling.

4) Mix half of the ricotta with egg, parmesan and nutmeg and beat with a blender until smooth. Put the cheese mixture in a deep bowl.

5) Also chop the spinach with a blender and gently mix it with the remaining ricotta into the cheese mixture. The lasagna filling is ready.

For the sauce:

1) In a deep stewpan, with a volume of about 1 liter, melt the butter. Add flour and, stirring constantly with a whisk, fry the flour until a light golden hue for about a minute.

2) Pour milk in a stream and stir the sauce until thickened. When the sauce boils, boil it for another minute, add nutmeg, salt to taste and remove from heat.

3) Mix grated Mozzarella and Gruyere. Add the ¾ of mixture to the sauce and mix until combined. The sauce is ready.

Assembly:

1) Boil pasta sheets for lasagna in boiling salted water for about 1-1.5 minutes only until soft, so that it is easier to work with. Remove from water and dry.

2) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Lightly grease the baking dish. Put a little sauce on the bottom. Upstairs is the first layer of pasta sheets for lasagna, then a layer of spinach and ricotta toppings, then a layer of sauce. So alternately lay out all the layers (6 layers of paste turned out on my form). Put the spinach filling on the last layer of the pasta, then the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the remaining cheese mixture at the end.

3) Cover the form with foil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes until a beautiful golden crust appears.

4) Let climb to cool at room temperature for 5-10 minutes, cut into portions and serve.

P.S. The cooking process is quite long. Therefore, I advise you to prepare the filling and sauce the day before. Then the next day you can quickly warm them up and collect lasagna. It only remains to bake. As a result, you will spend only 40 minutes for lunch/dinner.

Result:

Any pasta is always about creativity and imagination. You can stick to classic recipes where tomatoes and minced meat are always present. But try to move a little away from the canons and prepare this white lasagna. A successful combination of spinach and garlic is complemented by tender ricotta and a soft sauce with nutmeg aroma.