Cmac's Test Kitchen

Lasagna has become a weekly tradition for my wife and I, its easy to make and is handy to have in the fridge for lunches and last minute leftovers. For the last 4 years I have been using the same spinach lasagna recipe that I found on a box somewhere. So with plenty of CSA vegetables on hand, homemade ricotta, and home made sauce I decided to play around a bit, and what I came up with actually beats my fail safe recipe and takes the deliciousness factor up 4 notches. I will post my Make your own Ricotta recipe, and pasta sauce at a later date for now you can use store bought if that’s all you have.

What you need:

9 lasagna noodles, cooked, and drained

The lasagna before the bake.

500 g Ricotta, homemade or store bought

2 medium summer squash, grated

3 medium leaves of Swiss chard, center stem removed and finely shredded

100 g mozzarella, grated

100 g sharp cheddar, grated

1/2  c Parmesan cheese, grated

2 eggs, beaten

680 ml pasta sauce, home made, or store bought

Making the Lasagna:

Start by bringing a large pot of water with a dash of salt and 1 TBL of olive oil to a rapid boil. Then add the lasagna noodles and reduce to medium heat. Cook noodles until al dente.

While noodles are cooking in a large bowl mix together the Ricotta, summer squash, 3/4 of swish chard, 1/2 cup of mozzarella, 1/2 cup of sharp cheddar,

1/4 cup Parmesan, and finally the beaten eggs.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Now in a 9×13 baking dish layer 1 cup of pasta sauce, 3 lasagna noodles, and half of the ricotta mixture.

Again layer 1 cup pasta sauce, 3 lasagna noodles, and the rest of the ricotta mixture.

Toss together in a small bowl the remaining sharp cheddar, and mozzarella.

Now top the lasagna with the remaining 3 noodles, sauce, Swiss chard, cheese blend, and 1/4 cup of Parmesan.

Bake in your preheated oven for 45 minutes, be sure to check it at 40 minutes to make sure your not overcooking the edges of the noodles.

Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 9