Honestly, I’ve never been a lasagna girl. My mom always made it every year on Christmas Eve but it was never my thing. I’ve always been a fan of stuffed shells, myself.

But then I made my first vegetarian lasagna using fresh spinach and big, earthy mushrooms! It was love at first bite. After eating a big plate of it, I remarkably didn’t feel heavy or bogged down…instead, I just felt like seconds!

This vegetarian lasagna is even made easier with those handy-dandy “no bake” noodles. It’s also a great meal to assemble ahead of time, stick in the freezer then cook on a busy weeknight for a satisfying comfort meal even the carnivores will love.

Round out this meal with a simple green salad and some crusty garlic bread.  You won’t regret it!

Vegetarian Lasagna

Add some spinach and mushrooms to this recipe for a hearty meal from Jenna Weber of Eat, Live, Run. See the full post at the Fresh Tastes Blog.

Ingredients

• 1 box “no-bake” lasagna noodles
• 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce (I used Whole Foods 365 brand)
• 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 2 10-oz bags baby spinach
• 1 15-oz container ricotta cheese
• 1 package part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4th tsp pepper
• 1.5 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium low heat in a large skillet. Add one bag spinach and cook until wilted.
3. Remove and place spinach in a bowl and then cook remaining bag. Set cooked spinach aside.
4. Add remaining .5 tbsp olive oil to the skillet and saute mushrooms until tender. Set aside in a separate bowl.
5. In a third bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, minced garlic, salt and pepper.
6. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray and pour in about a fourth cup of pasta sauce to cover bottom. Lay three uncooked lasagna noodles over top. Add a layer of the ricotta mixture, then a layer of spinach, followed by a layer of mushrooms and a hefty sprinkle of mozzarella cheese. Finish each layer with a fourth cup of pasta sauce then repeat with three more noodles.
7. Make two more additional layers of noodles, ricotta, spinach, mushrooms, cheese and sauce then finish with a final layer of noodles, the rest of the sauce and more mozzarella cheese.
8. Cover very loosely with tin foil and bake for 50 minutes.
9. After baking, let lasagna cool for 15 minutes before digging in!

Yield: 6-8 servings