This is a little bit of a cheaty dish, I’m afraid – it almost makes itself (except for the bechamel), and does its thing in the oven while you go do something way more exciting (hopefully). The resulting delicious cheesy gooey mess actually tastes like you spent much more time on it than you did – and it makes wonderful leftovers. Sometimes I prefer it to vegetable lasagna, simply because the flavours are simpler, and for a cheese fan like me it feels a little bit more indulgent. And for a kid who grew up not eating a single bite of spinach (it was just never served at my house!) I cant’ imagine a life without it now. Vastly different to Popeye’s cans of green sludge, anyway!
Oh and if you like mushroom lasagna, like what’s on this week’s meal plan, stay tuned… I’ve got an awesome post coming up 🙂
Ingredients:
lasagna sheets
2 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
4 cups milk
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1 box frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 bag fresh spinach
2 cans artichokes, roughly chopped
100g ricotta
100g feta
2 cups grated tasty cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan
Directions:
1. Make the bechamel: Melt the butter over medium heat in a pan and add flour. Cook 2 minutes, gently. Add milk, salt and pepper and bay leaf and turn up the heat. Cook, stirring until boiled and thickened. Add frozen spinach and heat through.
2. Layer in a greased baking dish bits of feta, ricotta, fresh spinach, artichokes and grated tasty cheese with the bechamel on top, then add a layer of lasagna sheets. Repeat twice more, finishing with bechamel and the grated parmesan.
3. Bake in a 200C oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until cheese is golden and bubbly and lasagna is cooked through.
Kyrstie @ A Fresh Legacy says
July 29, 2012 at 11:04 pmI love pasta of all kinds in this weather – well all year round really! I am hoping for a bumper crop of artichokes this year to do some more experimenting with them. Have a great week.
Gina Lee Inthiraj says
July 29, 2012 at 11:46 pmHi Stacey!
Thank you for hosting, it is really hard to find foody (veggie) links. I really hope the meatless Monday thing catches on! for me, everyday is meatless ((:
Hugs
gina
Susan @ food.baby says
July 29, 2012 at 11:58 pmYou had me at four-cheese! Great idea to use artichokes in lasagne, yum!
Christie @ Fig & Cherry says
July 30, 2012 at 12:09 amJust lovely! Although I did think – hey, I thought you were making mushroom lasagna this week – looking forward to that too. Just wondering – did you use lasagna sheets that were fresh or dried?
Gina Lee Inthiraj says
July 30, 2012 at 12:12 am… Parmesan Cheese is not Vegetarian, they use rennet to make it… rennet is the scrapings of Cow stomach, which makes it meat/animal.
A great substitute for Parmesan would be Italian Style Hard Cheese. Or Veggie Cheese.
Veggie Mama says
July 30, 2012 at 12:27 amThank you, yes I know. And I know what rennet is, and how it is made. I use a non-animal rennet Parmesan-style cheese but it's just easier for everyone to understand if I write Parmesan. Not all my readers are worried about rennet and most of them are educated enough to make their own Parmesan decisions!
Gina Lee Inthiraj says
July 30, 2012 at 12:42 amYes, I use the one that is Veggie also, and you are right not everyone knows what it is, but when folks want to be vegetarian/meatless, and they unknowingly eat the Parmesan with rennet, then they are eating something they have no idea about. I am all for education on this, as I know for me, when I found out just what was in it, I wanted to throw up.
I was not questioning your recipe, only concerned that others who may not know, would eat it. if we can help each other learn, then our jobs are done. and welcomed by those who desire to be animal/meat free ((:
Veggie Mama says
July 30, 2012 at 1:58 amI really, really should grow artichokes! They are so delicious braised I could just about eat them every day.
Veggie Mama says
July 30, 2012 at 1:58 amIf I'd had a fifth, I would have put that in too!
Veggie Mama says
July 30, 2012 at 2:00 amYes, I made this lasagna last week. There's no post for the mushroom one because I haven't made it yet! I use either dried or fresh, depending on what I have on hand at the time, either of them work well, but fresh is much nicer 🙂
Veggie Mama says
July 30, 2012 at 2:06 amI see your point! I don't really see myself in the role of educator, though – I don't like to preach. I just provide the recipes and people can do with them whatever they like! I also only ever use soy milk, but for ease of understanding just say “milk”, and people will naturally use whatever they're comfortable with. I have been thinking of making a page that explains what I use and why, so hopefully that will clear up any confusion and I don't have to keep re-telling it in every recipe! It's a shame we don't have as many alternatives in Australia, I really like the sound of your Italian-Style Hard Cheese. We just don't have anything like it here at all 🙁
Amy {The Misadventurous Maker} says
July 30, 2012 at 3:36 amThis looks awesome! And I love that you can make this with mostly freezer, pantry, fridge food that keeps for ages. A huge tick in my house where I avoid shopping with my two darlings and by the end of the week am getting low on veggies! I'm going to get some frozen spinach and jars of artichokes ready for to make this! Which type/brand of artichokes would you recommend?xo
Sophie @ DH Blog says
July 30, 2012 at 9:10 amI agree with other readers, four-cheese is a magic world in my vocabulary! This looks amazingly simple, with cheese sauce make lots of milk and flour for strong bones 🙂 I'm making this tomorrow for dinner!
Melissa Walker Horn says
July 30, 2012 at 12:43 pmOh. My. Goodness. YES.
Diane Balch says
July 30, 2012 at 1:39 pmAnything with a béchamel sauce is fine with me. I like the mixture of spinach with artichokes.
Bess Georgette says
July 30, 2012 at 11:05 pmYou had me at “four cheese”!
YUMMO!
Veggie Mama says
July 30, 2012 at 11:18 pmhaha if it's easy, it's usually a recipe of mine! I'm getting so much better at using up my kitchen stocks in meals lately. I use canned artichokes for this dish, and there's usually only one or two brands available in the supermarket – whichever one is fine. You can use the ones in jars but I find they're more expensive and they already come with flavouring – by all means use it, I'm just too lazy!
Veggie Mama says
July 30, 2012 at 11:19 pmGosh, I adore cheese. The more the better.
Veggie Mama says
July 30, 2012 at 11:19 pmI KNOW.
Veggie Mama says
July 30, 2012 at 11:19 pmYes I'd probably eat anything with a bechamel sauce!
Veggie Mama says
July 30, 2012 at 11:19 pmhaha like I said before, if I'd had a fifth, I would have squeezed it in! Damn do I love cheese.
Amy {The Misadventurous Maker} says
July 31, 2012 at 6:48 amThanks Stace! I have tried the jar ones before and their strong flavour had put me off so I'll find the plain canned ones you speak of. Can't wait to make this!xoxo
Chantille Fleur says
July 31, 2012 at 9:14 amThis looks sooooo great! I love your blog and recipes….I'll have to try this!
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Sarah xx
RaNae B says
July 31, 2012 at 3:00 pmhi Stacey hope you are doing well and getting lots of rest what a great group of recipes so far thanks for hosting have a great week
FoodPorn.net says
August 6, 2012 at 4:06 amStacey, I couldn't say more.. You are very talented food photographer.
We really can see the deep through the lasagna *drooling*
http://www.foodporn.net
Veggie Mama says
August 6, 2012 at 11:39 pmYes, they can be more herb and spice than artichoke! Fresh artichokes are best of course, but they're a pain to cook x
Veggie Mama says
August 6, 2012 at 11:40 pmHaha thank you, but it's not me… I just fake talent with a very good camera 😉
Robert Dulaney says
August 11, 2012 at 4:20 pmyummy in my tummy! i may have to go grocery shopping today now. thanks 🙂