6-10 lasagna noodles
8 oz package of frozen all-natural creamed spinach [or make your own!]
8 oz package of button mushrooms, sliced
1 zucchini squash, sliced thin
1-2 roma tomatoes, sliced thin
6 oz milk [or coconut milk, half and half, etc…]
¼ cup grated parmesean cheese
additional parm + mozzarella cheese for topping
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp of italian seasoning blend [basil, oregano, etc…]
red pepper flakes for topping
Cheesy spinach filling:
½ a bag of fresh baby spinach leaves, torn
15 oz whole milk ricotta cheese
¼ - ½ cup grated parmesean cheese
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp of italian seasoning blend [basil, oregano, etc…]
¼ tsp salt + freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
The sauce and noodles can be made at the same time, followed by a super-speedy assembly, some quality time in the oven, and lastly some quality time in your mouth! Sounds good, right? Let’s do this!
To cut down on the amount of carb-y goodness in this dish I made lasagna roll-ups instead of typical layered lasagna. To make a roll up, break the super-long lasagna noodles in ½ [Its easiest to do pre-boiling] and apply a liberal dollop of filling inside the middle of each half. Then roll! You can’t mess it up if you try. Well, I can mess it up… but I’m special. You can easily layer this dish any way you’d like!
Break noodles in ½ prior to boiling for roll-ups or leave as is for layering.
Boil for 11min or however long the box of noodles specifies.
For the filling, combine ingredients, taste, and adjust seasoning to suit your palette.
I simply heat the spinach and saute the mushrooms with a pinch of salt and olive oil and then combine.
To flavor the sauce, and make it a tad bit more saucy, I added 6oz of coconut milk [any dairy or non-dairy option you adore will work here!] along with ½ tsp of garlic powder,1/4 tsp of salt, ¼ tsp of dried minced onion [or onion powder] and a few cranks of freshly ground black pepper. After tasting I sprinkled in a little more of each spice – feel free to do the same if you’d like! Grate some fresh parmesan cheese over the top [about ¼ cup or more if you’re feeling cheesy!] and stir. Viola! Spinach sauce!
Now that you have noodles, sauce, and all your yummy veggies prepped, embrace your inner food artist and start painting your canvas plate.
Layer filling, veggies and noodles in a casserole dish for a colorful and hearty lasagna or skip the layers entirely by rolling the filling into halved lasagna noodles.
Regardless of your noodle selection, top them with veggies, smother them in creamy spinach sauce and throw in a little parm/mozz cheese for good measure and bake at 350F for about 20 minutes.
If you can’t fathom turning your oven on in dead of summer toss it all in a pot/skillet and heat to bubbly perfection. This dish is about as versatile as they get!
As always, add more herbs and spices to taste! I always sneak an extra sprinkle or two in and taste as I go.