Lasagna With Baby Spinach And Béchamel Sauce
Christy Rost
| Pasta: | |
|---|---|
| 16 | ounces lasagna noodles |
| 2 | teaspoons salt |
| 1 | tablespoon olive oil |
Bring a large Dutch oven or stockpot of water to boil. Add salt, olive oil, and lasagna noodles. Cook 8 minutes, or until lasagna is al dente. Drain and set aside.
| Béchamel Sauce: | |
|---|---|
| 4 ¼ | cups milk |
| 10 | tablespoons butter |
| ¾ | cup flour |
| 2 ¼ | teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg |
| 1 ¼ | teaspoons salt |
| 3/8 | teaspoon white pepper |
In a medium saucepan, heat milk over low heat until hot. Do not boil.
In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. When butter has melted, whisk flour in gradually, whisking quickly to blend well. Cook butter and flour mixture 2 to 3 minutes, whisking constantly so mixture does not brown.
Remove from heat. Quickly whisk in one-third of hot milk mixture, taking care to incorporate all of flour mixture. Whisk in remaining milk, blending until smooth. Place mixture back on heat.
Season with nutmeg, salt, and white pepper. Cook Béchamel sauce 5 minutes, stirring constantly. If mixture is too thick, heat a little more milk, and whisk into sauce. Correct seasonings.
| Lasagna: | |
|---|---|
| 18 | cooked lasagna pasta |
| 1 | tablespoon olive oil |
| 2 | teaspoons salt |
| 1 | recipe Béchamel Sauce |
| ¼ | pound fresh baby spinach |
| 1 | 15-ounce container part-skim ricotta cheese |
| 3 | cups shredded mozzarella cheese |
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread a scant amount Béchamel sauce in bottom of a 9x13-inch pan. Top with one layer of lasagna pasta, 2 layers of baby spinach, small dollops of ricotta cheese, and mozzarella. Top with another layer of lasagna pasta, Béchamel, and fillings, for a total of 5 layers.
Top lasagna with remaining lasagna pasta, a generous amount of Béchamel sauce, and remaining mozzarella. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake 45 to 50 minutes in preheated oven until lasagna is bubbly. Remove from oven and set aside 10 minutes to firm.
Recipe serves 8.
Category: Pasta