Spinach, Artichoke and Sun Dried Tomato Lasagna
I’ve been playing around with the idea for a meatless lasagna for awhile. I was undecided about what vegetables to use and exactly how I was going to get it work the way I wanted to. I was out to lunch the other day with family and we ordered the ever delicious spinach and artichoke dip. As you know, I never met an artichoke I didn’t like, and mixed with with spinach and sun dried tomatoes, takes things over the edge! Why eat this yumminess with a piece of bread? I knew, of course these veggies would be great with pasta! Throw in some fancy cheese and I just knew this would be a hit.
Just like my original lasagna recipe, (I’ll get to that someday) this has a few moving parts, but it’s not difficult. To speed thing up, I use a no boil lasagna pasta. I use it it my regular lasagna recipe too. Most stores carry it and it really does work. One trick I like to use with the no boil lasagna pasta, is to quick soak it as I am assembling the lasagna. I find just having the pasta soak for just a minute or two in some warm water helps soften the pasta, so it isn’t rock hard when it goes in the oven. In this recipe I use frozen cut leaf spinach. I chose that kind, because I find it much more user friendly in many recipes. It usually comes in a bag, and I can use as much or as little as I want. Plus, I find I don’t have to thaw and squeeze out any liquid for recipes when I use this type of spinach. It’s great for throwing in soups or stuffing. I always have a bag or two in the freezer. For a little kick, I use asiago cheese in this recipe. I just wanted to amp up the flavor. But if you can’t get your hands on it, Parmesan cheese is just fine.
This lasagna is perfect for the veggie crowd, but it is really satisfying for the meat eaters too!
Spinach, Artichoke and Sun Dried Tomato Lasagna
Ingredients
- 10 ounces frozen cut leaf spinach
- 2 9 ounce packages frozen artichoke hearts
- 3 ounces sun dried tomatoes julienne cut and then rough chopped
- 1 9 ounce box no boil lasagna
- 1 cup grated asiago cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup milk plus more for smooth sauce
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- salt & pepper
- 3 cloves chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon parsley
- 1 tablespoon olive oil plus more for oiling baking dish
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a measuring cup mix together the milk, flour, nutmeg and salt &pepper. Set aside.
- In a large blender or food processor, add the milk mixture and the spinach. Blend until a smooth sauce forms. You may need to add some more milk to get the right consistency. Set sauce aside.
- In a saute pan add the olive oil, garlic, parsley and artichoke hearts. Cook until the artichokes are soft. Season with salt & pepper.
- Rough chop the sun dried tomatoes and the artichokes once they have cooled slightly.
- Lightly oil a 9x13 baking dish.
- Add some warm water to a a large baking tray and soak 4 lasagna sheets.
- To assemble: Spread some of the spinach mixture on the bottom of the baking dish.
- Next, spread the lasagna sheets on top overlapping. Add 4 more lasagna sheets to the warm water for the next layer. Add 4 sheets after you complete second layer.
- Add another layer of spinach sauce.
- Sprinkle the chopped artichokes and sun dried tomatoes over the spinach sauce.
- Next add 1/3 cup asiago cheese.
- Next add 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.
- For layer 2: Repeat with pasta, spinach sauce, artichokes & tomatoes, 1/3 cup asiago & 1/2 cup mozzarella.
- On the last and 3rd layer add all the remaining spinach sauce on the pasta sheets by pouring on top, but also all around the sides of the baking tray. Add artichokes & tomatoes, and 1/3 cup asiago. On the top layer add a full 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Then remove foil and bown for 5-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let in sit for about 5 minutes before cutting.
- Cut into squares. Serve.
