This past Saturday was my husband's (of almost 12 years) birthday! We often go out to dinner on those special days, but sometimes he has something specific in mind that he wants me to cook up. This year, his request was "spinach lasagna". I got everything I needed for it from the store, then got home and realized I had a little bit of Friday night's dinner's mashed sweet potatoes left. It would be a shame to not somehow utilize that in this lasagna dish. And here's how my spinach/sweet potato lasagna idea came to be. It turned out absolutely delicious and may I say it was even more (if that's possible) delicious the second day (yup, believe it or not we did have some left overs). So for all that asked for the recipe, here it goes. Keep in mind, I didn't have a recipe for this, I made it up on my own and I don't measure when I throw something together I dream up in my head, I just go for it. Usually it turns out amazing and in this case, it really did! Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Barilla No Boil Lasagna Pasta Sheets (1 box)
Marinara Sauce Jar (use whatever kind you enjoy the most or make your own)
1 small onion
Garlic, as much or as little as you like
1/3 Red Bell Pepper
Pack of Frozen Chopped Spinach, or fresh steamed spinach
Park Skim Ricotta Cheese (I only used about 3/4 of the entire container)
Sargento Mozarella/Provolone Shredded Cheese
1/2 cup mashed sweet potatoes
Salt, Pepper & any other seasonings of your choice, I used Trader Joe's "Everyday Seasoning"
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Sautee your onion and redbell pepper in olive oil, then add marinara sauce and warm. Set aside.
Using a food processor put your thawed out spinach or freshly steamed spinach in with some coarsely chopped garlic, get it into a paste consistency. Put into a bowl and mix with about 1/2 cup of Ricotta or maybe a little more, you be the judge (I used my eyes). Set aside
Get your mashed sweet potatoes and mix with about 1/2 cup Ricotta (or slightly less, again decide how much you want). Set aside
Spray your baking pan/dish (about 13x9 and 3 inch deep or so)
Layer as follows:
1st layer - Marinara Sauce
Pasta (My pan/dish allowed for three sheets to be laid side by side across the pan/dish.
Spread the Spinach Mix on top of the pasta (what you can do for ease and to not break the pasta, is to hold the pasta in your hand and spread the spinach mix with a knife, as you would peanut butter on toast, you want it to be thick!
Another layer of sauce
Pasta
Sweet Potato Mix (spread same way as you did Spinach)
Repeat: Sauce, Pasta, Spinach, Sauce, Pasta, Sweet Potatoe, Sauce etc.
All the way to the top of the dish. Make sure you have sauce left to cover the top It doesn't have to cover inch for inch but enough, again use your judgement, make it work.
Then sprinkle your shredded Mozarella/Provolone cheese all over the top, I used 3/4 of the entire bag.
Cover with foil.
Bake for 50 minutes. Then remove foil, and "Broil" for 2-3 minutes until cheese on top is bubbling, a little crispy & golden brown.
Take out. Let sit for maybe 10-15 minute because it will be pipping hot. Then Serve! ENJOY
Bon Appétit!
@myfitlife
looks delish!
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