Sorry to interrupt the cookie making, but we all need to eat dinner don’t we?
I for one have been craving cozy, hearty dinners to balance the holiday confections, so this white lasagna was so perfect last weekend.
Something about the cheesy from-scratch white sauce, the thick, creamy spinach filling, and layers of noodles is just what I’ve been craving lately. (and it’s a great way to sneak some green veggies into Hugo’s diet so I can’t complain!)
This white lasagna is truly spectacular. It’s pretty easy to make, and yields a huge pan that lasted our family for 3 meals. (I loved it with a big lemony salad on the side.)
The spinach is sautéed with onions and garlic, mixed with a creamy ricotta mixture, and layered with the most decadent cheesy sauce filled with mozzarella and gruyere. I highly recommend getting the best cheeses you can, as the flavors really stand out and good cheese makes all the difference. Enjoy!
White Spinach Lasagna
Ingredients
- For the Spinach:
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 small onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)
- 6 medium cloves garlic, minced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 lbs of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
- For the Ricotta:
- 2 pounds fresh ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs
- 4 ounces finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more or less if you want a kick or not)
- For the White Sauce:
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
- 5 cups whole milk
- 12 ounces grated low moisture mozzarella cheese
- 12 ounces grated gruyere cheese
- For Assembly:
- 16-20 no-bake lasagna noodles
Instructions
For the Spinach/Ricotta Mixture:
- In a large saucepan (I like using my big 5 qt dutch oven just to have a lot of room.) melt the 4 tablespoons of butter. Add the garlic and onions and sauté until golden. Add the spinach and stir for a few minutes to marry all the flavors. Turn off heat and set aside.
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, add half the ricotta, the eggs, parmesan cheese, nutmeg and salt & pepper. Process for a few minutes until blended and smooth. Transfer to a large bowl. (don't wipe the food processor bowl out.)
- To the food processor add the spinach/garlic mixture and pulse until finely chopped. Add to the bowl with the ricotta mixture as well as the rest of the ricotta cheese. Stir until blended and smooth.
For the White Sauce:
- In a large saucepan (I like to wipe out the dutch oven a bit and use that again,) melt the 5 tablespoons of butter and then add the flour- whisking constantly until golden. Add the milk gradually, about a cup at a time, stirring well between each addition. When thick and bubbly, add 3/4 of the mozzarella and 3/4 of the gruyere. Add salt and pepper to taste.
To assemble:
- In a 9x13 lasagna pan, start by spreading a small amount of the white sauce onto the bottom of the pan. Top with a layer of noodles (I used 4 across for each layer,) Spread 1/3 of the spinach mixture on top of the noodles, followed by 1/4 of the sauce. Repeat 3 more times, noodles- spinach- sauce. Topping with a 4th layer of noodles, the last 1/4 of sauce and the remaining cheese.
- Cover tightly with foil, and bake at 400F for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbly.
Notes
Recipe adapted from: Serious Eats
Pin White Spinach Lasagna for Later!
Katrina says
We definitely need to eat dinner. Especially if it’s cheesy and full of spinach like this! Such a yummy looking pasta :)
Rachel @ Bakerita says
This looks better than any cookie I’ve seen today! I’m seriously swooning over that gorgeous pan of lasagna, and I wish I had a big slice in from of me right now! Definitely going to have to try making this.
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
mmmm mmm mmmm we def. do need dinner and even I would be ok with taking a break from the cookies for some of this lasagna!
Olivia says
Made this for dinner last night and it was wonderful! I love that the spinach mixture goes in the food processor. It makes a much more delicate sauce. This is the best spinach lasagna I’ve ever made. Thank you for this recipe. This is definitely a keeper!
Audra says
Thank you for letting me know!!
Giovanna says
Hey Audra, here in Brazil I’ve never seen frozen spinach in the frozen vegetables section! Can I use fresh spinach? Thank you! Have a nice day!
Terry Angelotti says
I just made it with fresh spinach and it worked out fine–I always keep frozen spinach in the freezer, but I had a ton of fresh leftover from another recipe and wanted to use it up before it went bad. I threw it in the food processor after the onion and garlic, then added it to the pan when I was towards the end of sauteing them. You probably don’t need to process it, but I didn’t want long stems interfering when I cut pieces of lasagna. I probably used 6-8 oz but could have used more.
Janet says
What is no bake lasagna noodles? I am anxious to make this but never heard of no bake noodles.
Audra says
They are noodles you don’t have to cook before assembling your lasagna! They’re awesome- you can get them at pretty much every grocery store!
Amy says
If I am planning to make ahead and freeze can I still use the no-bake noodles?
Elias says
When you say “no-bake”, I assume you mean “no-boil” and not some kind of fresh noodle?
Audra Fullerton says
Yes! Exactly.
Chris says
My daughter has celiac disease and I made this w gluten free noodles and gluten free AP flour and it came out wonderfully! I am a pastry chef and have been spending my free time adapting recipes to gluten free for my grown up daughter. I was very glad to see this recipe because she doesn’t like tomatoes!! Thank you!!
Audra says
Thanks for taking the time to comment- I’m so glad this recipe worked gluten free!
Amy Nelson says
Hi! I made this for the 2nd time this evening! I LOVE this recipe!!! Thank you!! The only comment I would have is that I had to cook it covered for 40 min’s and then cooked 30 min’s uncovered. This was in a non-stick pan and an electric oven. Thank you, my family loves it!!!
Tiffany says
Thank you for sharing this recipe. We made it last night, it was delicious and will definitely feed us all night 2 as well.
Sunshine says
How is this with overnight or freezing? Any recommendations?
Jeanne Marie Nix says
Would like to know, too, if this can be made ahead of time and frozen.
Emily says
Can I make this the night before? If so, how do I re-heat before serving?
Lora says
Pros: easy to assemble, spinach with garlic and onions lovely, bechamel sauce was good
Cons: I did not like the texture of the spinach mixture, and I found the nutmeg overpowering. I had only used half of the recommended amount and it was still too strong. But I dislike nutmeg.