This is one of the first meals that Christian’s mom made that I absolutely fell in love with…so after watching her make it a couple of times I’ve created the recipe below. It’s healthy in terms of being vegetarian, but it is heavy on the Alfredo sauce and cheese…so not that healthy. Hence the yumminess!
The original recipe calls for topping the lasagna with herb feta cheese, but over the years we’ve decided that we like it better the traditional way so we just put lots more mozzarella on top. We also always make our own lasagna noodles vs. buying store bought…which means no pre-cooking of the lasagna noodles required! That was always one of the biggest pains of lasgna to me…cooking the noodles, then keeping them moist enough while you layer so they don’t all get stuck together but also waiting long enough so your not burning your hands. Issues! So homemade noodles are the way to go in my opinion…preferably wheat.
Lasagna Noodles (preferably homemade wheat noodles)
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 TBS Olive Oil
2 TBS Rosemary
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
8-10 large mushrooms, sliced
1 box of frozen spinach, defrosted
1 small jar of marinated artichokes, drained
1 can of quartered marinated artichokes (or 1 frozen package)
1 can of sliced black olives
2 small jars of Alfredo sauce (reserving ½ cup)
8oz vegetable broth
1-2 large packages of shredded mozzarella cheese (preferably Kraft natural)
Herb feta Cheese (or more mozzarella depending on your preference)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cook lasagna noodles (if store-bought) or roll out fresh made lasagna noodles (no need to cook)
Heat olive oil in deep pan. Sauté onion, garlic, rosemary, pepper and red pepper flakes until onions are translucent. Add mushrooms and sauté 2-3 more minutes. Add thawed spinach, artichokes, black olives, Alfredo sauce (reserving ¼ cup), and vegetable broth. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, until thickened.
Spoon 2-3 TBS into the bottom of a glass 9×13″ pan and swirl it around so it evenly coats the bottom. Layer noodles, then Alfredo mixture, and then mozzarella about three times ending with noodles. Top lasagna with the reserved ¼ cup of Alfredo sauce (or more of the mixture if you have some left as in my photo above), cover with foil and cook on 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. About 5 minutes before lasagna is done, sprinkle cheese of your choice on top and remove foil. Continue cooking until cheese is melted.
Mangia!
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