Recipe Research

Description

Saucy sugo al pomodoro, creamy cheesy, earthy spinach, and tasty basil lasagna! A mouthful of savory and delicious goodness. This recipe highlights simple fresh ingredients as traditional Italian recipes commonly do.

Difficulty level: Beginner/Medium
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes
Servings: 6

Allergens/Dietary Restrictions

Contains:
- Milk
- Eggs
- Wheat
Not gluten-free
Not dairy-free
Vegetarian

Ingredients

12 to 16 dried lasagna pasta (also use no boil if desired)
3 to 4 cups sugo al pomodoro
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cups (1 ½ pounds fresh) spinach, cooked (steamed or sautéed, liquid removed)
32 oz (2 LB) cups whole milk ricotta
1 egg
1 tsp fresh ground nutmeg (optional)
1 ½ cups coarsely grated mozzarella cheese (extra for top)
2 cups grated Parmegiano (extra for top)
6 fresh basil leaves, torn with hands
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Make a batch of the Sugo al Pomodoro (tomato sauce). Set aside.
Steam or saute spinach and remove liquid. Cool completely. Cut to create small pieces.
Mix the ricotta, egg, parmigiano, nutmeg (if using) and basil in a large bowl until combined. Once spinach is cooled, combine with ricotta mixture.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. (skip steps 5-6 if using no boil noodles)
Cook the noodles (6 at a time for dried pasta) until they are tender but still underdone (they will finish cooking as the lasagna bakes). Set aside in a bowl of cold water until ready to use. This will prevent pasta from sticking.
Grease a 9X13 rectangular baking dish with the olive oil, add a large dollop of tomato sauce and spread it around the bottom of the pan. Put a layer of pasta (use 4-5 depending on size) in the dish (you may need to cut any excess to make them fit) top with a layer of tomato sauce, one-third of the spinach and ricotta mixture, and one-third of the grated mozzarella (use your fingers to spread it evenly). Season with salt and pepper if desired.
Repeat the layers three times. For the top, cover with extra cheese.
The lasagna may be made ahead to this point, wrapped tightly and refrigerated for up to a day or frozen.
Bake until the lasagna is bubbling and the cheese is melted and lightly browned on top, about 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest a few minutes before serving, or cool completely, cover well, and refrigerate for up to 3 days, or freeze.

Storage and Reheating

You can freeze lasagna bolognese both uncooked and cooked, whole or in pieces. In both cases you will get an excellent result by following these tips:

Freezing Uncooked Lasagna

Simply assemble your lasagna in your oven-safe dish and cover it generously with plastic wrap.
When ready to eat the frozen lasagna defrost it the night before so that it thaws perfectly.
You can also pull straight from the freezer and add 30 minutes to the cooking time.

Freezing Cooked Lasagna

If you have any cooked lasagna that is leftover you can freeze it in portions by wrapping individual slices in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container. Make sure to let the lasagna cool before freezing.

Reheating

When you want to reheat it, defrost the lasagna a few hours ahead of time and then reheat it in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes.
When reheating lasagna in the oven cover the surface with aluminum foil to prevent it from cooking the top of the lasagna even more.

Recipe Website References

Bon Appetit
- The layout of the individual recipe pages is concise and easy to follow. A lot of recipt websites often have lots of writing/description before they finally provide the recipe card at the end, but Bon Appetit gives you the info you need right away.
Delish.com
- There are a few things I like about this site. First, I like the video demonstrating how to cook the recipe. I also think the "jump to recipe" button is helpful for users who don't care to read any background info and just want the recipe. Lastly, I like the two-column layout with ingredients on the left and instructions on the right.
Food Network
- The functionality that I like about this site is allowing the user to select ingredients from the ingredient list and add them to a shopping list. I also think it's cool that users can add personal notes to the recipe.

Non-Recipe Website References

AirBNB
- Airbnb utilizes a grid layout very well. The listing pages include lots of information without overwhelming the user because it is organized using column layout along with horizontal dividers. I also like the image preview aspect with the option to view more images - this could be an interesting way to include photos of the dish for the recipe page.
Boosted Boards
- The main thing I like about this page is the image treatment. I think the faded out phots with bold black text overlapping looks really cool!
Taco Buddha
- I just think this is a super aesthetic website overall. The color palette is really cohesive, the vibrant images pop out to the viewer, and the slideshow of photos/patterns on the homepage is cool and engaging.