Barbara's Spinach Lasagna

Pretty easy for lasagna. This one always gets rave reviews. The mixture of of cheddar and mozzarella is yum.

Grocery list:

2 bags of baby spinach
no-boil lasagna noodles (I never boil the noodles, but the old kind taste more floury than the no- boil kind...why would I have the boil kind on hand?)
garlic
olive oil
1 short carton cottage cheese
eggs
Italian breadcrumbs
bottled spaghetti sauce (I like the kind without sugar...but use your fave)
Grated parmesan cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Cheddar cheese


Fresh bagged baby spinach…use two bags for a large pan of lasagna…it cooks down to little of nothing. And you can use frozen, but I'm telling you, with spinach FRESH IS SOOO MUCH BETTER THAN FROZEN.

Sauté spinach in olive oil with garlic. (you may add bits of carrots or chopped mushroom, but the spinach and garlic are good on their own.

You may add the sautéed spinach and garlic into the cottage cheese mixture or use it as a separate layer. Barbara uses it as a separate layer.

Mix together ¾ of a short carton of cottage cheese (they have tall cartons and short cartons...I think the short carton is 12 ounces), 2 beaten eggs, ½ to 2/3 cup of Italian breadcrumbs, and ½ cup of Parmesan cheese

Put a little spaghetti sauce and water in the bottom of the pan. Layer dry noodles on the sauce. Add the layer of spinach, and then all of the cottage cheese mixture. Top that with a mixture of shredded mozzarella and cheddar. Add another layer of noodles, then top it with more spaghetti sauce. Cover it with foil and bake for about 35 minutes at 325 to 350 degrees until the noodles are tender. Test the noodles. When the noodles are fork ready, top with more shredded mozzarella and cheddar and bake about 10 minutes more, until the cheese is hot and bubbly. THE CHEESE ON TOPS TENDS TO BURN IF YOU COOK IT THE WHOLE TIME.

It’s good to make it ahead, and let the flavors mellow. And it’s more flavorful if you let it stand 15 or so minutes after it is done. Microwaves well.