White Spinach Lasagna
White lasagna or Lasagna in Bianco is a great variation on traditional lasagna. My version add some color and flavor by making homemade spinach pasta sheets. To me, this version screams Spring and I love serving it for Easter dinner.
White Spinach Lasagna
A delicious variation on traditional lasagna.
Ingredients
Spinach Pasta
- 400 g Semola Rimacinata Flour or 00 flour
- 3 Large Eggs
- 1/2 cup Blanched Spinach
Bechamel Sauce
- 3 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 3 tbsp AP Flour
- 3 cups Whole Milk/2% Milk
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Freshly Ground Nutmeg
- 1/3 cup Grated Parmigiano or Pecorino Romano
Filling
- 16 oz Whole Milk Ricotta, Drained
- 5 slices Deli Ham, diced
- 1 lb Ground Sausage Meat
- 16 oz Fresh Mozzarella
- 1/2 cup Blanched Spinach
Instructions
DAY BEFORE INSTRUCTIONS!
- The night before you are going to make this recipe, place the ricotta onto a strainer with a cheese cloth. Place it over a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it drain overnight in the refrigerator. Honestly, I prefer to do it for two days if you have the time.
Bechamel Sauce
- Warm your milk in the microwave for about a minute and a half.
- To a small pot, add butter to melt, once melted add the flower and whisk vigorously so that no lumps form. Once the flour has cooked for a couple of minutes, slowly add in warm milk.
- Keep whisking until all the milk has been added. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Then switch to a wooden spoon and cook on medium heated stirring continuously until the mixture has thicken about 4-5 mins.
- Once thickened, add in the grated cheese and turn off the heat. Stir until the cheese has melted into the sauce. Set aside until assembly.
Spinach Pasta
- Prepare an ice bath. Bring water to a boil. Blanch a 20oz of fresh spinach in salted boiling water for 2 mins. Remove and place into an ice bath immediately.
- Squeeze as much water as possible from the spinach.
- Add eggs and 1/2 cup of spinach to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Add semola flour to a kneading surface, make a well in the center. Pour the spinach/egg mixture into the well and begin mixing with a fork. Once it is too hard to mix, switch to your hands and begin to incorporate the rest of the flour and knead until you achieve a smooth dough ball, about 5-10 mins.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 mins.
- After 30 mins, cut the dough into 4 pieces. Take one piece and cover the rest in the plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out.
- Using a pasta machine, roll the piece on the first setting a few times folding it over onto itself to work it smooth.
- Then move through the settings until you reach your desired thickness. Lasagna sheets should not be too thin. I have a kitchenmaid pasta attachment and I went up to #4 thickness.
- Place on a well floured baking sheet and cover while you prepare the filling ingredients. I usually place parchment paper into between the sheets so they don't stick together.
Filling & Assembly
- Dice the ham and mozzarella and set aside.
- Cook the sausage in a fry pan with a little olive oil. Set aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Salt it well. Boil the lasagna sheets for 3-4 mins and then drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Lay out on paper towels to dry them out.
- Preheat the oven to 400℉.
- To a 9×12 baking pan, add some béchamel sauce to the bottom. Add 2 sheets of spinach pasta, cut the length if necessary.
- Add more béchamel sauce on top of the pasta and 4 dollops of Ricotta. Spread the ricotta out.
- Then add some ham, sausage, spinach and mozzarella. Repeat this layering process until you have reached the rim of the pan.
- Top it with more béchamel and freshly grated parmigiano.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400℉ for 45 mins – 1 hour until bubbling. Then remove the foil and place under the broiler until browned at bit on top.
- And now for the hard part! Let it rest for 20 mins before cutting.
