Green and White Lasagna

This is the best vegetarian lasagna I have ever had....ever.  You can even use red sauce if you prefer that.  Trust me though, this is killer.  This recipe is from a vegetarian cookbook called 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes by Carol Gelles.

Green & White Lasagna

Ingredients:

Basil Cream Sauce
3Tbs butter or margarine
3Tbs all purpose flour
3C milk
1/2 C chopped fresh basil
1/2C grated parmesan cheese
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4Tsp salt

Filling:
1/3C pine nuts
Two 10oz pkgs frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
15oz ricotta cheese
2C shredded mozzerella
1 1/2C shredded fontina cheese
3/4C grated parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
1/4Tsp freshly ground pepper

12 Lasagna Noodles

Directions:

Make the basil cream sauce:  In 2Qt saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat.  Stir in flour until absorbed.  Add the milk; cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and has thickened.  Remove from heat; stir in basil, 1/2C parmesan, garlic, and salt.  Place plastic wrap on surface of sauce and set aside.

Make the filling: Cook pine nuts over low heat in a dry, small skillet until all the nuts are at least partially browned.  Then chop.  Place chopped pine nuts in a large bowl.  Add the spinach, ricotta, 1/2C mozzerealla, fontina, 3/4C parmesan, beaten egg, and pepper.  Stir to combine and set aside.

Cook noodles according to package.

Preheat oven to 375

To assemble:
Thinly spread 1 cup of basil cream sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.  Place 4 of the cooked noodles over top of the sauce.  Spread half of the ricotta filling over the noodles.  Spread 1/2 of the remaining basil cream sauce over the filling.  Top with 4 more noodles, spread the rest of the ricotta filling.  Top with remaining noodles and spread the remaining basil cream sauce over the noodles.  Bake for 30 min.  Sprinkle with remaining mozzerella and bake 20 minutes longer.  Remove from the oven and let stand 15 minutes before cutting into squares.

On a side note:  I added sautee'd mushrooms and about a cup more of pine nuts.

If you make this, let me know what you think!