Three Cheese Lasagna with Spinach and Bolognese Sauce

(serves 6)

Lasagna

9 dry whole-wheat lasagna sheets
1 lb. frozen spinach

Bolognese Sauce

3/4 lb. ground sirloin beef
2 tsp. canola oil
1/2 c. chopped onion, minced
1/2 c. chopped carrot, minced
1/2 c. chopped celery, minced
8 oz. fresh button mushrooms, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, well-drained
1 Tbsp. dried Italian herbs
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 (8 oz.) can low-sodium tomato sauce, divided

Cheese Sauce

1 1/2 c. (12 oz.) 2% cottage cheese
2 c. (8 oz.) shredded part-skim mozzarella, divided
1 egg
1/4 c. shredded Parmesan

Preheat oven to 375 F. Cook pasta according to package directions. Blanch spinach in pasta water for 1 minute, drain and let cool slightly. Remove excess water from spinach.

Brown beef in oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat; drain. Add vegetables to beef and cook about 5 minutes or until they soften. Strain mixture and return to skillet. Stir in tomatoes, Italian herbs, pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper. Spread 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce in the bottom of an 8-inch, 2-quart square baking dish. Add remaining tomato sauce to Bolognese; stir until combined. Set aside. Pulse cottage cheese, 1 cup mozzarella, and the egg in a food processor until smooth; set aside.

Layer 4 lasagna sheets over the tomato sauce in the dish, overlapping sheets and cutting ends off to fit. Reserve cut pieces for top layer. Spread 1/3 of the Bolognese over lasagna sheets, top with half of the cheese sauce, followed by half of the spinach. Add a second layer of ingredients laying the lasagna sheets in the opposite direction. Top with the remaining whole lasagna sheet and the cut pieces. Top with remaining Bolognese, remaining 1 cup mozzarella, and Parmesan. Bake lasagna until topping is browned, about 25 minutes. Remove lasagna from oven and let rest 45 minutes before cutting into 6 pieces.

Recipe by Cuisine at Home

Nutritional information:

Calories 403
Total fat 12g
Saturated fat 5g
Cholesterol 86mg
Sodium 880mg
Carbohydrates 38g
Dietary fiber 7g
Protein 38g