Restaurant lasagna is certainly delicious but it can also be calorie and sodium laden. This lasagna is one of my favorite makeovers to allow us to fit it in anytime the Italian craving hits. It freezes beautifully so it’s ready to go when you’re ready to get your mangia on!
I have some of this in the freezer right now and you can believe I’m going to reheat in one weeknight and make it easy on myself! You can do the same or I bet family and friends wouldn’t mind you sharing! 😉
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Ingredients
- 1 box whole wheat pasta noodles (or grilled zucchini strips for low carb)
- 1 lb lean ground meat (I used 92% lean ground beef)
- 1 large tub cottage or ricotta cheese (I used low sodium cottage cheese)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 cup spinach, frozen or wilted, drained
- 3/4 tsp Italian seasoning, divided (1/4 tsp in meat)
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder, divided (1/4 tsp in meat)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 jar pasta sauce (I used Silver Palate Low Sodium Marinara)
- 3/4 cup shredded white cheese (I used Swiss/Gruyere)
- 1/4 cup hard cheese like asiago or parmesan
Instructions
- Brown up the ground meat of your choice. (I use 92% lean ground beef.) Add some Italian seasoning and garlic powder to taste.
- Preheat oven to 375
- In a pot of boiling water, add a box of whole wheat pasta noodles. I like to criss cross the noodles and it help prevents them from sticking as they boil for 8 minutes.
- I use low sodium cottage cheese but you can use part skim ricotta. To that add 1 cup of spinach wilted and squeezed of excess water, 1 egg beaten, 2 cloves of garlic minced, 1/2 tsp black pepper and 3/4 tsp Italian seasoning. Mix well until all ingredients are combined.
- When the noodles are al dente, drain them.
- Get out your sauce and shredded cheese.
- Add about 1/4 to 1/3 cup sauce to the bottom of 13x9 pan so the noodles don’t stick.
- Layer the noodles side by side anywhere from 3 to 4 across. Use half a noodle lengthwise to fill the gap at the top of the pan.
- Layer the cottage or ricotta spinach in dollops and spread evenly over the noodles.
- Crumble the ground beef over the cheese layer so it’s evenly distributed.
- Then add your shredded cheese. I like to use a swiss/gruyere mix from Trader Joe’s. This cheese layer will help bind your layers together.
- Finally drizzle your sauce over the top.
- Repeat the steps with all of your ingredients. For the cheese on top, I like to grate on a stronger, contrasting cheese like parmesan or asiago for more flavor.
- Give a piece of foil a little squirt of olive oil spray so it doesn’t stick to the cheese as it bakes.
- Bake at 375 for 40 minutes and then pull off the foil for the last 5 minutes.
- After that pull it out and allow it to sit. Do not cut it yet or it will fall apart.
- After a 5-7 minute rest period, use a sharp paring knife to cut into the lasagna into 6 to 8 pieces.
© 2024 Mrs Kringles Kitchen
