Norman’s Spinach Lasagna

Norman’s Spinach Lasagna

As long as I provided my recipe for homemade pasta and sautéed spinach, I might as well post my lasagna recipe too. This was obviously written in the middle of the winter. In the heat of the summer, it is good to remember what a winter storm is like, just to appreciate the calm summer weather.

Picture this, if you will. It is freezing cold outside. You are walking to your car in the parking lot after a long day of work but your car is buried under a foot of snow. The snow is coming down so hard and the wind is so strong that it stings your face. You open the car door and a bunch of snow falls on to the driver’s seat. You start the car and it takes ten minutes to clean the snow from the car. The roads are deep with snow and traffic is slipping and sliding at a slow pace. Your half hour drive home takes over an hour. You can barely get your car in your driveway because it is drifted over. Ugh, you are cold and miserable. 

Now picture a large wedge of spinach lasagna on your dinner plate just oozing cheese from every possible crevice. Next to that is a pile of sautéed broccoli that looks like it was in its own blizzard of fresh grated Parmesan cheese. The bread is still warm enough to melt the butter and the wine is waiting in your glass. Your cold commute home is rapidly becoming a distant memory. This spinach lasagna just has a way of making everyone’s day a little better. 

You should make this often. Don’t start grumbling. There is a lot of stuff in this lasagna, but it is not difficult to make. It is mostly just an assembly process. If you know there is going to be a winter storm, you can assemble the lasagna the night before. When you make it home, all you have to do is to pop it in the oven. 

Sauce

4 tbs. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped fine

4 cloves of garlic

1 tsp. thyme

1 tbs. oregano

1/4 tsp allspice

1 tsp. white pepper

2 cups red wine

2 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes

Salt & pepper

Filling

1 batch of Norman’s Pasta Dough for Homemade Pasta

1 batch of Norman’s Sautéed Spinach

1 lb. shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 lb. shredded mozzarella cheese

1 15 oz. package of whole milk ricotta 

1/2 lb. sliced provolone cheese

1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups shredded asiago cheese

Preparation

First of all, you are going to need a LARGE lasagna pan. I recommend one of those disposable aluminum roasting pans used for roasting turkey. If this is what you use, place it on a sturdy cookie sheet before you start building the lasagna, otherwise it might collapse when you try to pick it up. Believe me, it is going to be heavy.

Mix up a batch of Norman’s Pasta Dough For Homemade Pasta and place it in a plastic bag to rest while you make the sauce. To make the sauce, heat a sauce pan and add the olive oil. Sauté the onion and garlic for two minutes. Add the thyme, oregano, allspice, white pepper and wine. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes and let it simmer for about ten minutes. Taste the sauce and season it as needed with salt and pepper. Set the sauce aside and make a batch of Norman’s Sautéed Spinach. 

Roll out the pasta dough into thin sheets and cut them into four inch wide ribbons (if you don’t like ribbons, you can cut them into four inch wide sheets instead, it is up to you). 

Place about two cups of the sauce in the bottom of your lasagna pan and spread it out. Place a layer of the pasta over the sauce. Now place all of the sautéed spinach uniformly over the pasta layer. Cover the spinach evenly with the Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Add another layer of pasta. Stop complaining, you are almost done. 

Next add a heavy layer of the sauce and then add the ricotta in dabs evenly over the sauce. Add the cheddar and another layer of pasta. Add another layer of sauce. Finally, add the the asiago and provolone cheeses and push the cheese down into the sauce. Add more sauce if needed. Note, if you didn’t listen to me and are using uncooked store-bought lasagna noodles, add a half cup of red wine evenly over the top of the lasagna so there is enough moisture for the pasta. If you didn’t make your own pasta, shame on you.

Bake the lasagna with the pan on the cookie sheet at 350˚ for about a forty five minutes.. The cheese should be golden and the sauce should be bubbling. Let it sit for fifteen minutes before slicing. While it is resting, pick out a bottle of Chianti Classico to drink with your lasagna. 

Serving

I kind of told you how to serve it, but if you didn’t pay attention, you want a huge slice of lasagna next to sautéed broccoli. You also want homemade bread and butter and plenty of grated parmesan cheese to sprinkle. Also have a second bottle of Chianti Classico on hand, just in case you need it. The weather outside if frightful, but your dinner is so delightful. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!