Thursday/Friday Green Lasagna

It's Thursday night, normally a pre-weekend going out night for me. But we've already eaten out twice this week, and my responsible side says it's time to stay at home. It's feeling chilly for an LA evening, and I know we've got some left-over ricotta in the fridge and some spinach in the freezer. Plus, we're all out of Trader Joe's frozen lunch specials, so we'll need something to eat for Friday lunch (when it's oh-so-tempting to go out). Lasagna it is.

After a quick glance at Epicurious, The Joy of Cooking and Moosewood, I realize I can come up with my own plan. Quick walk to Albertson's for fresh basil and mozzarella, and we're good to go. I find that the no-cook noodles like lots of sauce to get moist, so definitely use the whole jar. If you're feeling more ambitious than I was, you could dress up the sauce by sauteeing some onions, mushrooms and garlic to add....but that means more pans to wash, and sometimes that's not what you want on Thursday night.


Thursday/Friday Green Lasagna

1 16 oz pkg frozen chopped spinach (Trader Joe's is great)
32 oz ricotta cheese
1 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella
handful fresh basil, chopped
kosher salt
pepper
jar of prepared pasta sauce (Whole Foods 365 Roasted Red Pepper is good)
1 pkg. no-cook lasagna noodles

1) Preheat oven to 375.
2) Thaw and drain spinach
3) In large bowl, mix spinach, ricotta, 1 c. mozzarella, fresh basil, salt and pepper.
4) In 9x12 pan, lay one layer of lasagna noodles. Top with even layer of cheese mixture, then spread some sauce on that. Repeat until you run out of noodles. Top the last layer of noodles with left-over sauce, then sprinkle last 1/2 c. of mozzarella on top.
5) Bake for 45 minutes, and let sit a little while before you dig in.

Serve with mixed green salad, and enjoy leftovers for lunch the next day.