Good morning!! Have you prepared the green béchamel with spinach? Great! So let’s start immediately with the first of the three recipes I have prepared for you! Here’s the first recipe, the lasagna with spinach béchamel. Let me show you a picture right away:
These lasagna with spinach béchamel are a simplified version of the lasagna typically referred to as white lasagna (white, even though they are often nicely filled with spinach 😄).
It is a lasagna made with very few ingredients, practically just pasta and béchamel, to which I added my beloved ricotta. In such a minimalist recipe, the ricotta works well, because it gives body to the layers. While the green béchamel, thanks to the spinach, adds that extra taste but light, not overwhelming, leaving the lasagna delicate.
Those who follow me know perfectly well why spinach in my kitchen cannot always play a predominant role but, I assure you, being asked for a double portion by someone who usually avoids spinach was a real, great satisfaction!
And you? Are you spinach lovers like me or do you reject them like someone I know? Are you curious to try tasting them by hiding them (so to speak 😀) in the lasagna with spinach béchamel?
Go, go, run to buy the spinach!
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This recipe is my contribution to the Monday column Light and Tasty, which today comes out with the topic spinach and chard. For the recipes of my colleagues, I refer you as always to all the links at the end. 😉 While you can find my other recipes with spinach or chard here:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for 4 individual portions
- 9.88 oz egg lasagna (dry, 14 sheets)
- spinach béchamel (made with 500 g milk)
- 8.82 oz ricotta
- grated parmesan (to taste on each layer)
Tools
- Cocotte
- Casserole
- Tongs
Steps
Prepare the spinach béchamel following the recipe.
Blanch the pasta pieces.
Remove them from the water with tongs (or alternatively with two forks) and spread them out on a clean cloth.
Assemble the lasagna: place the ingredients in single-serving pans alternating – as typically for any kind of lasagna – layers of pasta, béchamel, ricotta, and grated parmesan.
Finish the last layer with béchamel, parmesan, and ricotta. Or just with béchamel and parmesan (to get a crispier crust).
Bake and cook at 392-428°F for about 25 minutes. During cooking, check the gratin and lower the oven temperature if necessary.
Bon appétit! 🤩
😉 I really love individual portions, they are much more convenient to assemble and much more practical to serve! But of course, you can also assemble the lasagna in a single large pan. Like this:
Salt-Free Tips
No salt in this recipe, as in all my recipes. 😉 In these lasagna, the sodium comes from the parmesan and the ricotta (if store-bought). To further reduce salt from the recipe, remember that ricotta can be easily made at home. Here are my two recipes 👉 for fresh cheese and 👉 for homemade ricotta.
If you are interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▫ Decrease salt gradually, the palate must get used to it slowly and should not notice the progressive reduction.
▫ Use spices. Chili pepper, black pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▫ Use aromatic herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▫ Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, nuts…
▫ Use spicy vegetables or fruits. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▫ Use my salt-free vegetable granules and gomasio.
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid cooking in water, prefer cooking methods that do not disperse flavors (griddle, foil, steam, microwave)
▫ Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
▫ Sometimes allow yourself a break from the rule. It’s good for the mood and helps to persevere.
If you don’t want, or can’t, give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes by salting them according to your habits.
Follow me!
On the WhatsApp channel and on Instagram, on the Facebook page, in Pinterest, in my two groups: Catia’s group, in the kitchen and beyond and Exactly what I was looking for! and if you want… subscribe to my Newsletter
On the WhatsApp channel and on Instagram, on the Facebook page, in Pinterest, in my two groups: Catia’s group, in the kitchen and beyond and Exactly what I was looking for! and if you want… subscribe to my Newsletter
Light and Tasty:
And here are the other Light and Tasty recipes of today: 👇
Carla Emilia: Cake with spinach peas and ricotta
Claudia: Sautéed spinach with onion and raisins
Daniela: Skillet pizza with chard and feta
Elena: Chard stalks in milk
Milena: Savory pie with colored chard
Carla Emilia: Cake with spinach peas and ricotta
Claudia: Sautéed spinach with onion and raisins
Daniela: Skillet pizza with chard and feta
Elena: Chard stalks in milk
Milena: Savory pie with colored chard
