Florentine Lasagna by Terry

1122-Lasagna-Florentine
1 pound spinach — fresh
1 pound mushroom — fresh sliced
1 cup onion — chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup bechamel sauce
nutmeg — fresh
15 ounces ricotta cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese — freshly grated
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon basil — dried
1 tablespoon oregano — dried
1 package lasagna noodles — fresh
3 cups mozzarella cheese — fresh
1 can tomato sauce — small size

Blanch the spinach, drain pressing out excess moisture and set aside.
Saute the sliced mushrooms until they release their moisture and it cooks
off. Add the onions and saute until they are transparent. Add the garlic.
Add a little more oil if needed, a couple of tablespoons of flour and cook
for a few minutes. Add milk to make your bechamel. Make sure it’s rather
thick. Taste and add a generous grating of fresh nutmeg. Set aside until
cool.

Cook the lasagne noodles until just slightly underdone. Drain.
Mix ricotta, 1/2 of the Parmesan, egg, salt, pepper, basil, and oregano.(Rub
the basil and oregano between your hands as you add it to release the
natural oils).

Add the cooled spinach mixture to the ricotta mixture and combine gently.

Oil the bottom of your baking pan with a little olive oil. Start your layers
with the noodles then the ricotta-spinach mixture and so forth until you
have about 4 layers.ending with a noodle layer Top with the remaining
Parmesan cheese. Add the mozzarella cheese. I used the marinated fresh
mozzarella which has a wonderful basil flavor. I get it at the deli counter
at my supermarket. They are the small balls about the size of a large
marble. I slice them up and arrange on top of the lasagne. Add one small can
of tomato sauce. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350F for 1 hour.

Remove from the oven after 1 hour and let it rest for 30 minutes before
cutting.
You can assemble this a day ahead if you like. It’s always wonderful
reheated.

The important thing with this recipe is to use all fresh ingredients. If you
can’t buy the fresh lasagna noodles you can use the dry but It would not be
as tasty. Serves 6