| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 50 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Cook: | 20 min |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium Spanish onion, finely chopped
- 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
- 1 medium zucchini, finely chopped
- 1 medium summer squash, finely chopped
- 8 asparagus spears, cut into 1/4-inch slices
- 1 pound fresh plain lasagna sheets
- 2 cups Simple tomato sauce, recipe follows
- 1 1/2 cups canned white beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, halved
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a saute pan over medium heat, add extra-virgin olive oil. When almost smoking, add the onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the carrot and cook for 3 minutes. Add the zucchini and squash cook for 5 minutes. Add asparagus and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat when all vegetables are completely cooked but still have a good crunch. Allow to cool.
- Using a 6-inch round cookie cutter, cut circles out of the lasagna sheets. You will need 18 circles. Coat the bottom of 6 (6-inch) gratin dishes with a teaspoon of tomato sauce in each. Place a circle of pasta on the bottom of each ramekin. Rinse the beans with water and season with salt and pepper. Divide the beans between each ramekin. Next, divide the spinach between the ramekins. Place a second layer of pasta on top and gently press down. Divide the sauteed vegetables among the ramekins and top with a tablespoon of tomato sauce in each. Place the third layer of pasta in each ramekin and coat with a tablespoon of tomato sauce. Sprinkle ramekins with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, and top each with 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place gratin dishes on top. Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until brown and bubbling.
- In a large casserole pot or Dutch over, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and bay leaves and simmer uncovered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.
- Add 1/2 the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.
- If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 1078 |
| Total Fat | 57 g |
| Saturated Fat | 22 g |
| Carbohydrates | 109 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 17 g |
| Sugar | 21 g |
| Protein | 42 g |
| Cholesterol | 88 mg |
| Sodium | 1854 mg |
Reviews
I get so many wonderfull comments when I make this recipe. I make it in a large dish instead of the individual dishes. I also omit the beans and spinach but add more asparagus and squash. When I make the sauce I add red pepper which gives it a nice but small kick.
This didn’t work for me. Not sure why. Perhaps there was to many tastes and textures all competing with each other. Guess maybe I’m just a die hard “traditional” lasagna guy. Oh well, gave it a shot.
I made this for our daughter’s graduation party, I put each in a little foil dish and mixed some Ricotta in with the vegetables for some stability. It was wonderful My company loved them.
Easy to make ahead and refrigerate till baking.
Easy to make ahead and refrigerate till baking.
I don’t know why this recipe doesn’t have 5 stars, because I’ve made it time and again and the results are PERFECTION. Excellent recipe. I follow the recipe exactly, except for one important thing. I do recommend you use fresh spinach (microwave or saute it down to wilt it first) rather than frozen. The frozen spinach is tougher and has a stronger taste.
Pretty good healthier version of lasagna, and the beans were such a nice touch, they gave the lasagna a nice creamy texture without all the ricotta. I also made this in a big pan instead of individual ramekins, and it turned out just fine.
I will admit, I was skeptical about this recipe at first, but I had to try. No ricotta, no meat… perfect! The chopping was worth it. Cooked for 30 min in convection oven in a 9×11 pan (6 ramekins just seemed silly to me). I made a couple tweaks, but nothing radical. Due to limited time and lack of desire, I used my own sauce – Rao’s Arrabbiata spicy red sauce, which is by far one of the best jarred sauces I’ve ever had (I couldn’t go wrong!). I used frozen spinach, as this was the only spinach I could find & made sure the spinach was mostly dry. Plenty of cheese (a small bag of mozzarella & ~ 1.5 cup Parmesan) on the veggie and top layer, it was the perfect ratio of sauce, veggies, pasta, and cheese. I can’t wait to finish the leftovers for lunch!
I love this recipe and have made it as is and tweaked it with very good results. The reviewers who complained it was watery probably did not cook/squeeze out the spinach thoroughly or rinse and drain the white (cannellini) beans. Or maybe they didn’t salt & pepper the veggies while sauteing them, which seasons them and draws out the moisture ahead of time, also ensuring you don’t result in a watery lasagna. I also make this lasagna in 2, 8×8 pans and freeze one, baking the other for 45 minutes at 375. My timesavers include pouring boiling water from a teakettle over the lasagna noodles and letting them steep while I saute the veggies and using Mario Batali’s jarred marinara (2 of them) or any with tomatoes listed as the 1st ingredient instead of making it from scratch. I use more marinara and cheese than Giada says to, putting in between the layers, because it was a bit dry as written.
For anyone who used fresh spinach in this recipe. Did you cook it before adding it or just raw.
We modified this recipe but it was a complete hit. Instead of frozen spinach we used fresh. We shared the recipe with an aunt and she didn’t leave the veggies cooked but crunchy, hers wasn’t that good, she clearly didn’t make the sauce either. I have made this recipe 3 of the 4 times I have eaten it and 3 of the 4 times I loved it.
I think this recipe has several problems. It doesn’t have enough of the tomato sauce. Then again, perhaps there’s enough sauce and it just isn’t enough to cover up the dreadful taste of the frozen spinach. Fresh spinach would have been much better. When the lasagna cooks, the veggies cook down and produce a lot of liquid, so it makes the dish watery. I’m also sure that it’s healthier without ricotta, but that addition would have really helped hold the lasagna together. I imagine this is what compost would taste like if you added tomato sauce.