Ingredients

Check off ingredients as you go

For 6 servings

• 1/2 package lasagna sheets (or homemade recipe)
• 800g (1¾ lbs) spinach leaves (frozen or fresh)
• 300g (10.5 oz) ricotta
• 1 large egg
• 70g (⅔ cup) Parmesan cheese
• Salt, pepper
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 knob of butter

For the béchamel

• 50g (⅓ cup) sifted flour
• 50g (3½ tbsp) butter
• 1 L (4 cups) milk

If you change the number of serving, consider adjusting cooking times!

Preparing the filling

1. If using frozen spinach, place in a pan with a knob of butter and cook until all liquid has evaporated (otherwise it will release water into the lasagna).

2. In a bowl, mix the spinach, ricotta, and egg. The mixture should be smooth, neither too liquid nor too thick. Add a small ladle of béchamel to the mixture.

Preparing the béchamel

3. In a saucepan, melt the butter, then add the flour and mix with a wooden spoon to incorporate everything well. A roux will form (a smooth mixture of flour and butter). Keep the heat at medium, not too high, so the butter doesn’t burn. Cook for 2 minutes.
4. Pour in all the milk at once. Bring to a boil, lower to medium heat and whisk (to avoid lumps), continuing to cook until thickened. Turn off the heat, season with salt, pepper, and add the nutmeg.

Assembling the lasagna

5. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).

6. In a baking dish, spread a ladle of béchamel sauce, add a layer of lasagna sheets making sure they adhere to the sauce (breaking the corners slightly if needed), then a layer of filling (relatively thin since there will be more layers, this should cover the lasagna sheets). Repeat with a thin layer of béchamel, lasagna sheets, sprinkle lightly with Parmesan and continue until all ingredients are used. The final layer of filling should be covered with lasagna sheets then a generous ladle of béchamel sauce, which should also cover the corners. Pepper lightly and dust the entire surface with the remaining freshly grated Parmesan.

7. Bake for about 20 minutes (preferably in the lower part of the oven so the béchamel doesn’t dry out). If you like a well-browned top, simply switch the oven to broil for an additional 5 minutes (without moving the dish higher).

Serve with a mixed baby greens salad, or arugula.

Tips and variations

For this recipe, I make 3 layers of filling (meaning 4 layers of lasagna sheets) - it’s delicious.

For a salmon version, simply add 400g (14 oz) of skinless salmon fillets cut into cubes to the spinach pan 5 minutes before the end of cooking.

Most brands of lasagna sheets are now no-boil, so you can place them directly in the dish, and they’ll cook along with everything else in the oven. The important thing is that they’re well coated with sauce.

You can prepare the filling a few hours ahead and refrigerate until you’re ready to assemble the lasagna.

This recipe is also excellent with cannelloni. Simply stuff them and proceed as you would for lasagna.

You can use tomato sauce instead of béchamel, like in these ricotta spinach conchiglioni!