Spinach Lasagna

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 (10 ounce) bags curly spinach, stemmed and rinsed
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 1 tbsp for baking dish
• 5 large shallots, minced (about 1 cup)
• 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 ounce parmesan cheese, finely grated (about 1/2 cup)
• 8 ounces whole milk cottage cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 no-boil lasagna noodles
• 2 ounces parmesan cheese, finely grated (about 1 cup)
• 8 ounces italian fontina, shredded (about 2 cups)

Recipe

• 1 spinach: fill large bowl with ice-water.
• 2 bring 4 quarts water to boil in large dutch oven or stock pot over high heat; add salt and spinach, stirring until spinach is just wilted, about 5 seconds.
• 3 using skimmer, or fine-mesh strainer, transfer spinach to ice-water and let stand until completely cool, about 1 minute, then drain spinach and transfer to clean kitchen towel. wrap towel tightly around spinach to form a ball and wring until dry. chop spinach medium and set aside.
• 4 for the béchamel: melt 5 tbsp, butter until foaming in medium sacepan over medium heat; add shallots and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 4 minutes. add flour and cook stirring constantly for about 1 1/2 minutes; do not brown.
• 5 gradually whisk in milk. bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat, whisk in bay leaves, nutmeg, salt and pepper reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, whisking occasionally.
• 6 whisk in parmesan and discard bay leaves. transfer sauce to bowl, press plastic wrap directly against surface, and set aside,.
• 7 for the cheeses, pasta and assembly: blend cottage cheese, egg and salt in food processor or blender until very smooth, about 30 seconds. transfer to bowl and set aside. adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425°f
• 8 place noodles in 13x9 inch broiler safe baking dish and cover with hot tap water; let soak 5 minutes, agitating noodles occasionally to prevent sticking. remove noodles from water ad place in single layer on kitchen towel. wipe baking dish dry and coat with remaining 1 tbsp butter.
• 9 use rubber spatula to distribute 1/2 cup béchamel in bottom of baking dish; position 3 noodles on top of sauce. stir spinach into remaining béchamel in bowl, mixing well to break up clumps of spinach (you should have about 4 cups spinach/béchamel mixture) .
• 10 spread 1 cup spinach mixture evenly over noodles, sprinkle evenl with parmesan and top with 3 more noodles. spread 1 cup spinach mixture evenly over noodles, followed by cottage cheese mixture. finish with 3 noodles, remainig cup spinach mixture and remaining cup fontina.
• 11 lightly spray large sheet foil wih nonstick cooking spray and cover lasagna. bake until bubbling, about 20 minutes, then remove foil. remove lasagna and adjust oven rack to uppermost position (about 6 inches from heating element) and heat broiler. broil lasagna until cheese is spotty brown, 4-6 minutes. cool 10 minutes, then cut into pieces and serve,.