I am on the road to recovery from a very full belly of neighbors’ holiday cookies, southern foods, my Aunt Judy’s mashed potatoes with cream cheese, which I can never get enough of, and of course every casserole known to man. Christmas was good to me, and I really soaked up a full four days with family and inside jokes with my brothers and sister. At one point, I had a full kitchen staff of siblings helping me make rolls in the kitchen while my youngest brother filmed a cooking video. I don’t know how anyone survives with less than four siblings. So when I got home, I did the only natural thing. I made Lasagna Verde.
It’s one big pan of goodness. It’s pasta, it’s zucchini, it’s spinach, it’s cheese. It’s comforting when I’m winding down and missing my family. This lasagna is full of greens! Hence, the title Lasagna Verde. I subbed pesto for red sauce and filled up the ricotta with spinach and slices of roasted zucchini. It’s the ultimate winter comfort food. It’s a different take on your classic vegetarian spinach lasagna.
Let’s get started on this lasagna recipe! I used an 8×8 pan here, so you can make either two 8×8 pans or one 9×14 with this recipe. Start with your noodles. Do not use the ready to bake noodles. They never turn out right for me, and this isn’t a particularly saucy lasagna, so it won’t work. Boil your noodles just shy of al dente and drain them. Then separate them and lay flat on wax paper.
Mix together your ricotta, spinach, half the pesto, half the parmesan, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Then drizzle some pesto in the bottom of the pan.
Now comes the layering. Noodles, then ricotta, then zucchini, then mozzarella, then pesto. Now repeat three times.
Your top layer is noodles, then add a thin layer of pesto. Then I like to slice some mozzarella over the top for a nice thick layer. And cover with the remaining parmesan.
Now you bake it! It’s so brown and bubbly. Delicious!
I hope you love the recipe. Find the full recipe below plus a printable recipe. What’s your favorite comfort food?
- 2 tsp olive oil for drizzling
- 2 cups zucchini sliced crosswise (about
- 5 small zucchini)
- 32 oz ricotta cheese
- 1 cup pesto
- 1 egg
- 1 cup parmesan
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- two packages of frozen spinach
- 2 cups mozzarella shredded
- 1 lb lasagna noodles (not oven ready)
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In a large baking sheet, add the sliced zucchini with a drizzle of olive oil. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the zucchini is slightly browned.
- In a colander, run cold water over the frozen spinach until defrosted. Squeeze all the water out of the spinach with a towel. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together ricotta, ½ cup of the pesto, 1 egg, ½ cup of the parmesan, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, and defrosted spinach. Set aside.
- Boil a large pot of water for the noodles. Add the noodles and a tsp olive oil to the water. Boil for about 9 minutes, or until a little less than al dente. Remove the lasagna noodles to a sheet of wax paper in a single layer so they don't stick together.
- In a 9x14 pan or two 8x8 pans, add a third of the pesto to the bottom of the pan. Add a single layer of noodles on top. Add a third of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles, spreading evenly. Add a layer of zucchini slices. Top with a quarter of the mozzarella. Then add a drizzle of pesto. Repeat two times. Noodles, ricotta, zucchini, mozzarella, pesto. Noodles, ricotta, zucchini, mozzarella, and pesto. For your last layer, add a layer of noodles, spread remaining pesto on top. Add the remaining quarter of mozzarella and the remaining half cup of parmesan. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until browned and bubbly.
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