WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Fresh, emerald-green spinach highlighted by a delicate, savory white sauce; tender noodles; and mild, creamy cheese makes this spinach lasagna a spectacular success. We preferred cottage cheese to ricotta in this recipe, for the extra tang and creaminess it lent to the dish. We found certain other components useful as well: no-boil noodles that we soaked in hot water for 5 minutes to soften and blanched spinach from which we wrung out all excess water. Be sure to use Italian fontina rather than bland and rubbery Danish or American fontina. If it is not available, substitute whole-milk mozzarella. To make the cheese easier to shred, freeze it for 30 minutes to firm it up. If your baking dish is not broiler-safe, brown the lasagna at 500 degrees for about 10 minutes. Two pounds of flat-leaf spinach can be substituted for the curly-leaf spinach, but do not use baby spinach because it is much too delicate. Be sure to set up the ice water bath before cooking the spinach, as plunging it into the cold water immediately after blanching retains its bright green color and ensures that it doesn’t overcook.
SERVES:8 to 10
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
SAUCE
- 1¼ pounds curly-leaf spinach, stemmed
- Salt and pepper
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 shallots, minced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3½ cups whole milk
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (1½ cups)
CHEESE FILLING
- 8 ounces (1 cup) whole-milk cottage cheese
- 1 large egg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
LASAGNA
- 12 no-boil lasagna noodles
- 8 ounces Italian fontina cheese, shredded (2 cups)
INSTRUCTIONS:
- FOR THE SAUCE
- Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot.
- Fill large bowl halfway with ice and water.
- Add spinach and 1 tablespoon salt to boiling water and cook until just wilted, about 5 seconds.
- Using slotted spoon, transfer spinach to ice water, and let sit until cool, about 1 minute.
- Drain spinach and transfer to clean dish towel.
- Wrap towel tightly around spinach to form ball and wring until dry.
- Chop spinach and set aside.
- Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Stir in shallots and garlic and cook until softened, about 4 minutes.
- Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until thoroughly combined, about 1½ minutes (mixture should not brown).
- Gradually whisk in milk, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps.
- Bring to boil, whisking often, then stir in bay leaves, nutmeg, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer, whisking occasionally, for 10 minutes.
- Discard bay leaves, then whisk in ½ cup Parmesan until completely melted.
- Reserve ½ cup sauce in small bowl, then press plastic wrap directly against surface; set aside.
- Transfer remaining sauce to second bowl and stir in spinach, mixing well to break up any clumps, then press plastic directly against surface; set aside.
- FOR THE CHEESE FILLING
- Process cottage cheese, egg, and salt in food processor until very smooth, about 30 seconds; set aside.
- FOR THE LASAGNA
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
- Pour 2 inches boiling water into 13 by 9-inch broiler-safe baking dish.
- Slip noodles into water, one at a time, and soak until pliable, about 5 minutes, separating noodles with tip of paring knife to prevent sticking.
- Remove noodles from water and place in single layer on clean dish towels, discarding water. Dry and grease dish.
- Spread reserved sauce evenly over bottom of prepared dish.
- Arrange 3 noodles in single layer on top of sauce.
- Spread 1 cup spinach mixture evenly over noodles, sprinkle remaining 1 cup Parmesan over spinach mixture, and top cheese with 3 noodles.
- Spread 1 cup spinach mixture evenly over noodles, sprinkle 1 cup fontina over spinach mixture, and top with 3 noodles.
- Spread 1 cup spinach mixture evenly over noodles, followed by cheese filling.
- For final layer, arrange remaining 3 noodles over cheese filling, then cover noodles with remaining spinach mixture.
- Sprinkle remaining 1 cup fontina over spinach mixture.
- Cover dish tightly with greased aluminum foil and bake until edges are just bubbling, about 20 minutes, rotating dish halfway through baking.
- Remove dish from oven and discard foil.
- Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler.
