Lasagna Stacks

Have I mentioned that I'm loving my new kitchen?  It's inspiring me to make some new recipes and we haven't eaten out much since we've moved.  A couple nights a week if my husband works late, we've been having sandwiches, soup, or frozen pizza but I've been trying to be creative on the nights that we all eat together.  

When I was browsing some cooking blogs, I came across this great riff on lasagna.  You don't make it in a big pan, it's a vegetarian recipe, and doesn't have a red sauce.  I really liked the technique, it came together quickly, and I will be making it again soon.  You can read the original recipe here (she has lots of photos).  

Since I don't have a microwave, I made a couple of changes to the arugula part and I added mushrooms and onions to the recipe to make it a little heartier.  I also made some changes for my daughter's portion by mixing some browned ground turkey, ricotta, and red sauce instead of the pesto/arugula filling.  I think that baby spinach would work just fine in place of the arugula and I'd add some red pepper flakes to the filling next time.  Other sauteed green vegetables would probably be just fine in the filling (zucchini or broccoli?).

Here's what it looked like before going into the oven:

And my daughter's piece:

Lasagna Stacks (adapted from Baked Bree) 4 servings

12 no boil lasagna noodles

cooking spray or vegetable oil

6 oz baby arugula

2 c. sliced mushrooms

1/2 onion, diced

15 oz container ricotta cheese

3/4 cup parmesan cheese, divided

1 tsp lemon zest

1 egg

7 oz container of prepared pesto

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Cover a cookie sheet (or jelly roll pan) with cooking spray or brush with vegetable oil and set aside.  Put the lasagna noodles in a 9x13 pan and pour boiling water over them to cover them.  Let them soak for 10 minutes.

While the noodles are soaking, saute the onion and mushrooms in a little olive oil until soft.  Coarsely chop the arugula, add it to the pan with the onion and mushroom, and put a lid on the pan.  Let it steam until the arugula is wilted, about 3-5 minutes.

Mix together the ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese, pesto, egg, and lemon zest.  Add a little salt and pepper (not too much salt - the pesto & cheese make it salty already).  Add the vegetables (arugula, mushroom, onion mixture).

Take the noodles out of the water and drain on a kitchen towel.  Lay 4 sheets of pasta on the baking sheet.  Spread 1/4 c. of the ricotta cheese mixture on each piece of pasta and top with a bit of the mozzarella cheese.  Add another layer of pasta and repeat.  Top with the rest of the parmesan cheese and a little fresh pepper.  

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are beginning to brown and the cheese is bubbly.  Slice the stacks in half and serve on top of each other.