Lasagna is the ultimate comfort food and it’s probably one of the first things I learned to make. My mom (a fabulous Chinese cook) and I just followed the instructions on the side of a box of dry lasagna sheets, using jarred sauce. These days, I always make my own sauce, and after several variations, I have to dub this one my favorite, Beef and Spinach Lasagna. This is still a fairly classic tasting lasagna. It’s just that I like mixing spinach into the cheese mixture. Isn’t it wonderful when the healthier twist tastes better?
*Update 9/23/09: My mom asked me to make her this lasagna so while I’m at it, I figured, I’d take new pictures, better pictures! (The first two and last picture are new.) Also, I wanted to note that Hungry Crasian pointed out that you don’t need to buy “no boil” lasagna sheets. I tested it out this time and she’s right, the regular kind does work fine. (Remember to cover the lasagna in aluminum foil before baking.)
Beef and Spinach Lasagna
~makes one 9×13 tray
Meat Sauce
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 pound 11 ounces (90% lean) ground beef
- 1 (28oz) can crushed tomato with basil
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 bay leaf
Cheese & Spinach Filling
- 10 ounces frozen spinach, blanched, drained and cooled
- 1 pound shredded whole milk mozzarella, divided
- 1 pound whole milk ricotta
Assembly
- 9×13 baking dish
- 1 box lasagna sheets (I’ve used 8×4 and regular, both work)
*note: the lasgana sheets I used are made for 8×8 pan but I wanted to make more so I made a 9×13. It worked fine though.
Instructions –
Meat Sauce (can be made a day or two ahead and refrigerated, warm before using):
1. Heat oil in a medium pot on medium high heat. Stir in onions and soften for about a minute. Add carrots and stir around for another minute. Stir in tomato paste until well distributed.
2. Add ground beef and stir around until browned, about 5 minutes.
3. Add crushed tomatoes, garlic, and bay leaf. Bring to boil. Stir and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove from heat and remove bay leaf. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F while meat sauce cools a bit.
Cheese & Spinach Filling:
1. Ring out spinach with paper towels.
2. In a medium sized bowl , combine spinach, 8 ounces of mozzarella, and ricotta.
Assembly
1. Spread 1 cup of meat sauce on the bottom of the pan.
2. Lay 4 sheets (or 3 if using the regular size) of lasagna down. See pic.
3. Spread 1/3 of cheese and spinach filling on top of lasagna sheets. Spread a little more than 1 cup of meat sauce on top.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 two more times. Lay another layer of lasagna sheets on top. Cover with remaining meat sauce. Spread remaining mozzarella on top.
5. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and bake for another 5 minutes. Serve.
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MMM..that looks super yummy! I made lasagna recently with left over meat sauce….I had enough to make two batches and it was all devoured lols I love making sauce…I just made some yesterday with meatballs.
This looks delicious! Love lasagna.
Last week I tried a recipe I saw on Sara Moulton’s new show using wonton wrappers instead of lasagna noodles: I would deinitely recommend it.
a square of heaven, that’s what you have there. comfort food indeed, and wonderfully executed.
Wonders, the whole point is to keep left-overs. Lasagna is the best reheatable food.
Olga, I’ve done ravioli with wonton wrappers but not Lasagna. Sounds great!
lasagna looks kinda wimpy, really thin lol just saying
Hi there,
I usually have one or the other, beef or spinach & Ricotta, I never thought of putting them together. Wow!
That will keep us going for a few days.lol
I will check it out at the weekend, when we have family round for dinner.
Thanks Jessica
;0)
Eatingfoodbooy, I wasn’t happy with the pic…it does look flat. We are still trying to improve our lighting situation that makes all of our pics a little gray and shadow-y.
This looks fantastic! I love the idea of mixing spinach into the cheese layers. It’s nice to have something green in or with your lasagna — the last batch I made I served with sauteed broccolini on the side. Nice combo.
http://www.recipemashups.com/?p=1439
i have done a lot of experimenting with lasagna noodles and as long as you cover with aluminum foil (like all lasagna recipes tell you) you don’t have to cook the noodles, i’ve done it several times, try it out, you don’t have to pay more for no cook, just buy regular lasagna noodles and get to it, i swear it will be fine.
hungry crasian, I’m scared but I’m going to try it. Thanks for the tip!
LOVED this. My hubby was not sure he would like the addition of spinach but he said this was the BEST lasagna I have made and to stick with it. A huge Thank you!!!
Daedre, so happy you and your husband enjoyed it! I hope you’ll try more of our recipes. =)
This post just comforted me a lot haha. I’m making lasagna a different way today with Spinach, Zuchini, Broccoli, and meat sauce and cheese. Well the pan turned out a bit smaller than expected so I had to move to a bigger but just a hint shallower pan. Ugh the stress that caused me, I worried that the sauce and liquid coming from the veggies wouldn’t cook the pasta well enough but after seeing this post I think I’ll be ok. I’ll still be more careful next time but I’ve always cooked the pasta first and baked after assembling the soft pasta etc. This was my first attempt at allowing the pasta to cook in the oven. I hope it works out. 🙂
I need to try this seeing as I’m a lasagna fanatic. I just made your turkey meatball soup the other day (I used ground lamb since it was all I had) and I’ll post it today! Fantastic!
This looks delicious! Lasagna is such a fun dish to make on a girls night in because you can chat away, while the girls help you with the numerous steps involved! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was REALLY good! I made it in a 9×13 pan and it have used maybe a tad bit more sauce, but it was still good nonetheless. Not sure if I’d change it at all. It is our new favorite lasagna recipe.
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Thanks Laura! Feel free to make extra sauce! It’s especially helpful when re-heating left-overs.
This was AMAZING! Thanks so much for posting this recipe, I’ve been craving lasagna. Most recipes have EITHER meat sauce OR ricotta/spinach, but this is what everyone wants. I’m just trying to wait the last minutes for it to set but my whole apartment smells wonderful now. I added pesto to the ricotta mixture, and we’ll see how that goes. Thanks again
Bernadette, ooh pesto! Please report back!
This is yummy, I’ve been making spinach & beef lasagna for years & wanted to see what variations were out there!
If you want a healthier version, use Quark & 4 beaten eggs mixed with the spinach. This means that if you’re following Slimming World – which I am, you can eat this without any of the guilt!! Yums!
Got this baby in the oven as I type. It smells delicious and I never thought of using carrots in the sauce. I can’t wait to try it 🙂 I also added some blended habenero peppers for a kick that my guy liks in his food 🙂
– Krys
Krys, how was it?
We made this once before and we’re making it again tonight. We use ground turkey since we’re not big beef eaters. We love this recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Your lasagna is the best. I look for the recipe every few months and, thankfully, always find it. The only change is that I make a bit more sauce and add 1/4 cup parmesan to the ricotta/spinach mixture. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Thanks Kevin! I’m so glad you like it!! I hope you find some other FoodMayhem recipes to enjoy too! …maybe the Pumpkin Lasagna?