This super simple lasagna recipe is for my vegetarian friends. A few weeks ago I was chatting with a blogger about what other things I can add to my blog to make is shine. After a list of suggestions like nudes and fist fights from World Star, I settled on more DIY home recipes.
DIY home recipes are quite challenging for a multitude of reasons:
- The natural lighting in my home sucks.
- Our dining room table is consistently in a state of disarray!
- My cooking utensils don’t match.
- I have old hands, that make my “artsy” food shots look terrible!
Despite my reasoning I took a stab at the Artichoke + Spinach Vegetarian Lasagna from COOKIE + kate. I stumbled upon her recipe while searching for unique meatless Monday dishes. I happened to have some jarred artichokes at home (like who has that?!) that I needed to use. This recipe was perfect!
Additionally this recipe provided me with the necessary steps to make my own ricotta cheese and tomato sauce. I HATE store bought ricotta, and am always looking for ways to either omit or make my own. The DIY tomato sauce was perfect, as my hubby is monitoring his salt intake. I find that most canned tomato sauces are packed with sodium and other unhealthy preservatives.
Most Sunday’s are for meal prepping. Blogger meal prepping is a bit different though. I learned that the hard why with the recipe, but I am not ashamed to say that I am learning. As a matter of fact when you look at the blogger who I snatched this recipe from, you’re legit going to LOL!
One thing that is super important when you are preparing any recipe is lighting! Especially if you plan to take any quality photos. I was racing against father time to produce my Artichoke + Spinach Vegetarian Lasagna. Sadly, he won. Another important factor are your ingredients. This recipe called for no-boil noodles, of which instantly zapped 7 minutes from my cook time.
In an effort to be as transparent as possible about this recipe, you will need a mini-chopper. The only reason I have one is because my mother is a die hard Black Friday shopper. She got a really tiny one years ago, and it works miracles. There isn’t much chopping that goes into this dish. But you will need some form of mixer to smooth out your ricotta and DIY Tomato sauce.
You’ll notice that the recipe calls for cottage cheese, of which I also hate! Something about blending it in the mini-chopper took away that curdy, “sir lumps-a-lot” mouth feel. Smooth cottage cheese isn’t that bad, especially when you season it with a little salt and pepper!
ARTICHOKE + SPINACH VEGETARIAN LASGANA
You will love this delicious and healthy Artichoke + Spinach Vegetarian Lasagna. It includes fresh spinach, jarred artichoke, tasty cottage cheese (in place of ricotta) and a DIY Tomato sauce that even the kids can make. This recipe yields one 9-inch square lasagna and give or take 8 servings.
Ingredients
Tomato sauce (or substitute 2 cups prepared marinara sauce)
- 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh basil
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (add more for a spicier tomato sauce)
Spinach artichoke mixture
- 2 cups (16 ounces) low fat cottage cheese
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped red onion
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup jarred (simply omit for a classic spinach lasagna), chopped if necessary
- 12 ounces baby spinach
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Remaining vegetarian lasagna ingredients
- 9 no-boil lasagna noodles
- 2 cups (5 ounces) mixed Italian cheese
- Garnish: sprinkling of additional chopped fresh basil
PHOTO GALLERY
