4 Cheese Spinach Mushroom Lasagna

In case this picture didn’t sum is up for you, the 4 cheese spinach mushroom lasagna was perfectly cheesy and gooey

As I mentioned in my Palm Sunday post, lasagna is a staple for any gathering in my family. While it may not seem it, this 4 cheese spinach mushroom lasagna is actually incredibly easy to make (and you can pretend to everyone that you slaved all day making this home cooked meal). Plus, I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who doesn’t like lasagna – especially this one that packs in four different cheeses, fresh spinach, and wine soaked porcini mushrooms.

As the number of vegetarians in my family increases, I have looked for new ways to cook that keep everyone happy. While we did make a sausage lasagna as well for our Palm Sunday gathering, I actually ended up liking this vegetarian 4 cheese spinach mushroom lasagna better (and that’s saying a lot considering how much I love meat). The dried porcini, which we soaked in a bit of left over white wine, really add a depth of flavor and earthiness to each layer, and really act to boost the flavor of the fresh mushrooms that I used as well. That combined with a chunky marinara sauce that simmered for a few hours, and you will not miss the meat at all!

My 4 cheeses: ricotta, parmesan, and ricotta salata in one bowl, mozzarella on the board, and wilted spinach.

What makes this lasagna extra gooey is the amount of cheese we used – I don’t think I need to tell you it’s A LOT. Of course we used the classic lasagna combo of ricotta and mozzarella cheeses. But we added grated parmesan and ricotta salata – a sheep’s milk cheese that is ricotta’s saltier and firmer older brother. This cheese can be a bit to salty if served on its own, but when shredded or grated and added into the ricotta mixture, it adds the perfect amount of salty and tangy bite. I strongly urge you to try ricotta salata in other ways! Its one of my favorite cheeses. If you can’t seem to find it in your grocery store, go for pecorino romano, another sharp and salty sheep’s milk cheese.

And now for the KEY to my 4 cheese spinach mushroom lasagna! Use regular lasagna noodles, but DO NOT boil them first. I’m not talking about the no-boil lasagna noodles, I’m talking about regular lasagna noodles. Just don’t boil them – layer them in the lasagna still hard and uncooked. No, not the no-boil ones. Yes the regular ones. I know, it took a very long time for my family to grasp this concept. But is keeps the lasagna much firmer. The noodles still have that tiny bit of al dente bite, plus they cook in all that delicous sauce and cheese goodness instead of just plain old water. You’ll be amazed of great this lasagna comes out – no more sloppy, falling apart pieces.  I promise.

4 Cheese Spinach Mushroom Lasagna

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 30 mins

 

Recipe type: Family meal

Cuisine: Italian

Serves: 12 servings

Ingredients

• 15 oz ricotta cheese
• 2 lb mozzarella cheese thinly sliced
• ½ grated parmesan cheese
• 8 oz ricotta saltata grated or shredded
• 2 eggs
• 16 oz marinara sauce (see my recipe below for homemade marinara sauce)
• 1 bunch fresh parsley, minced
• 1 box (16 oz) lasagna noodles
• 1 oz dried porcini mushrooms
• 16 oz button mushrooms (or any fresh mushroom of your choice)
• 1 large bunch of spinach
• ½ cup white wine (or anything you have left over)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Soak dried porcini mushrooms in wine for at least 20 min. Once the mushrooms have rehydrated, chop finely, leave in liquid and set aside.
3. Saute spinach in batches until wilted down - about 3 minutes per batch. Squeeze out as much water as possible from spinach. Chop roughly and set aside.
4. Thinly slice mushrooms and saute in olive oil until they are caramelized. Do this in two batches if needed, so the mushrooms are not overcrowded in pan and will caramelize properly.
5. In a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta, parmesan, ricotta salata, eggs, about half the minced parsley, and salt and pepper to taste-I use lots of pepper.
6. Use 9x12 pan at least 3 inches deep. Start with a ladle-full of sauce on the bottom of the pan, then a single layer of lasagna noodles (we used about 3-4 noodles per layer). If you have to, break the noodles up into pieces to make them fit better. Layer ⅓ ricotta cheese mixture, ⅓ mozzarella cheese slices, half the spinach, half the sautéed mushrooms, and half the porcini mushrooms with reserved liquid. Cover the layer with a few ladles of sauce. Repeat this order for the next layer, starting with the uncooked noodles. At the end of this layer, place a third layer of noodles. Top this with remaining ricotta cheese, then sauce. Place remaining mozzarella cheese on top.
7. Bake in the oven for about one hour, or until cheese is bubbling and lasagna seems firm when pan is jiggled. Cover with tin foil if the top of the lasagna begins the brown too much.
8. When the lasagna comes out of the over, sprinkle it with the remaining minced parsley. Let sit for about 20 minutes before serving.

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Vegetarian Sunday Sauce

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

The sauce my grandfather used to make every sunday afternoon, in its vegetarian form!

Cuisine: Italian American

Serves: 10-12 servings

Ingredients

• 1 35 oz can plus 1 28 oz can San Marzano peeled whole tomatoes
• 1 12 oz can tomato paste
• 2 onions, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 bunch parsley, minced
• 1 bunch basil, minced
• 1 cup while wine
• dried herbs like basil, oregano, thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil for sautéing

Instructions

1. In the bottom of a large pot, sauté onions and garlic in olive oil until softened and slightly browned, 5-7 minutes. Add white wine and simmer for 2 minutes.
2. Add peeled tomatoes and tomato paste. Before the sauce gets too hot, use your hands to crush up the whole tomatoes - this is the way my grandparents did it - until they are broken down into smaller chunks. Add salt, pepper, and dried herbs to taste.
3. Allow sauce to simmer on low until you are satisfied with the taste or until you are too hungry to wait anymore; a minimum of 1 hour, but I simmered my sauce for about 4 hours and it came out incredible.
4. Just before serving, add fresh basil and parsley to taste.

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