Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Cheesy spinach and sundried tomato lasagna


Whats for dinner? That seems to be the question I have daily. Not one to make the same thing over & over again I needed to create something new & different for dinner. Today I decided to focus in on a new side dish and go with a favorite main course, Herbed Chicken in wine sauce.

I had my mind set on spanakopita but didn't have what I needed to make it - out of filo. Who wants spanakopita with out filo? Not me! However when I discovered a box of Barilla no boil lasagna sheets I got a burst of Kitchen Witchcraft. I could make a pasta type version of spanakopita, with delectable sun dried tomatoes showing off their tart goodness. Hmm... this has potential.

Ok. We've got sun dried tomatoes, spinach, feta cheese and pasta sheets. Sauce is the next thing to examine. I thought a lower fat version of Alfredo sauce would help round out the flavors. Garlic is always on hand so that was an easy addition. I used milk rather than cream to save on fat and calories but still provide the milky sweetness that Alfredo is famous for. 2 tablespoons of Parmesan and 1 clove of garlic turn plain milk into an Alfredo that makes both your mouth and scale happy.

Cheesy Spinach and sundried tomato lasagna
serves 4 as a side dish
10 oz spinich, defrosted & squeezed dry
3 T feta cheese
2 T parmesean cheese
2 oz shredded mozzerella cheese
1 c milk
2 cloves garlic, minced
kosher salt & pepper (1/2 t salt, 1/8t pepper)
2 grates nutmeg
1.5 oz sundried tomatoes diced
3 sheets Barillia no boil lasagna pasta sheets

Preheat oven to 375*
Thaw spinach. Squeeze dry with a towel. Add salt, pepper & nutmeg. Stir to combine. Add the mozzarella cheese and 1 clove of garlic minced. Stir well to incorporate well.



Mix milk, Parmesan cheese and remaining garlic (minced) in a bowl.


In a small rectangular pan (I modified a bread pan, details follow) line with a strip of aluminium foil to make a sling, will cover bottom and up sides partially. Spray with non stick spray. Place 1 sheet of pasta on bottom, layer with 1/3 of the spinach/cheese mixture. Top with 1/3 of the diced sundried tomatoes. Top with 1 T feta cheese.

Repeat layers 2 more times


Make a small ball of foil. With the side of the foil sling press lasagna against side of pan, compacting as you go. Place foil ball between side of bread pan and side of lasagna, this will help keep it place while baking. Press down firmly with palms of hands to set layers. Pour milk mixture over top, tip pan around so milk enters every layer.

Cover with foil and bake at 375* for 20 min. Remove foil, bake an additional 10 minutes.

Let cool 5 min in pan before removing. Remove sling from pan, lasagna will come with it. Slide the foil sling off the lasagna and slice into 4 servings.



Nutrition Facts
4 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 173.9
Total Fat 6.7 g
Saturated Fat 3.6 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.4 g
Cholesterol 23.9 mg
Sodium 566.6 mg
Potassium 187.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate 17.4 g
Dietary Fiber 2.2 g
Sugars 3.6 g
Protein 11.6 g

4 comments:

Hazzy said...

Definitely sounds yummy... to bad I missing about half the ingrediets. ; ) BTW, this is Aja.

Andrea the Kitchen Witch said...

Hi Aja!! Its good to see you here!!! Thank you for your comments, I love to get comments :-) Darn it, I have some of this left over I could have sent it with Brian to give to you. maybe tomorrow :-)

Alisa said...

Lovely dish!I love how you can magically create a recipe as fabulous as this.You know what,Foodista announced that they are going to publish the best food blogs in a full color book that will be published by Andrews McMeel Publishing this Fall 2010. You have some really great recipes and I thought how great it would be if you could join in this event! You can find out more about it at this link.Sorry I had to leave this message here.I wanted to email you but couldn't find it,so I dropped this one instead. Hope you do join. Thanks!

Andrea the Kitchen Witch said...

Thanks Alisha, I'd be proud to sport a Foodista widget to my blog! I'm glad you enjoy the recipes :-) I enjoy creating them for you all. Thank again for the Foodista links, that's awesome!! It is my sincere hope that you become a follower of my blog & join me on my culinary adventures :-)

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