Spinach Lasagna – Of all the pasta I have ever eaten Vegetarian spinach lasagna definitely is the best. When I ate lasagna for the first time at my cousin’s house (Thanks Deepa bhabhi for introducing me to this wonderful dish) I instantly fell in love with it. Layers of pasta, vegetables, white sauce and lots of cheese … what can go wrong with this combination?

When lasagna is baking, the house smells so good. Everybody is in the kitchen waiting for it to come out of the oven. And it’s healthy too. You can vary layers for different flavors. Earlier I used to make it with cottage cheese filling and mix vegetables. But when we were trying very desperately for our kids to eat some leafy vegetables my husband suggested substituting mix vegetable layers with spinach filling. It was an instant hit in our house.

Vegetarian Spinach lasagna is loaded with vegetables, around two bunches of spinach, still, it is the most sought after dish in our house. Cottage cheese covers my kid’s daily quota of milk which they are not having otherwise. We can also use the white sauce in this recipe if desired. The best thing about this dish is that it tastes even better reheated though it is not likely that there will be any leftovers.

How to make Cottage Cheese at home

Bring milk to boil and then add the juice of 1 lemon. Once the milk starts to curdle, strain it and separate from the whey. Tie the cottage cheese in a muslin cloth and let it stand for some time.

Lasagna with fresh homemade pasta sheets is simply a dish very hard to resist. Once you make these sheets at home you will never use store-bought lasagna sheets. Lasagna takes some effort to make but the second you take a bite you will be thinking why I don’t make it more often. It is definitely worth the effort.
What can I use in place of Lasagna Sheets
I have made lasagna with Flatbreads, Roti, Tortilla, and bread slices.
Lasagna and Garlic Bread is a match made in heaven.

How to make Vegetarian Spinach Lasagna

Grind all the ingredients, except cottage cheese and spices, in a blender to a fine paste. Heat oil in a pan, add tomato mixture and spices, and cook till the mixture leaves sides of the pan. Now add crumbled cottage cheese ( paneer) and cook for 1 more minute. Taste the filling. I keep tomato filling a little spicy.

For spinach filling:

In a large frying pan, add a little oil and fry the onion until translucent. Now add spinach and cook for 10 minutes. Add salt, chili, black pepper, and oregano. Grate cheese and mix well. Cook for 2 minutes. The filling is ready for spinach pasta.

How do you make Lasagna sheets at home

for lasagna sheets:

Sift flour into a mixing bowl, add salt. Rub in butter with your fingertips. Knead the dough with the help of your hands until you get smooth dough by adding in water or flour as required. Let it rest for about 15-20 minutes. Make 5 balls of the pasta dough. Roll out one ball at a time with the help of a rolling pin until you get a thin sheet.

The size of the sheet should be according to your baking dish. Cut it in half.

Do we boil Lasagna sheets before baking
Lasagna is cooked in the same way as any other pasta. Boil water in a large pan. Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tbsp of oil to the boiling water to keep the sheets from sticking to each other.
Cook the lasagna sheets in boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Turn them once after 2 minutes. Do not put all the sheets at once otherwise, they will all stick together. Drain them for one minute.

For baking:

Lasagna Assembly

In a greased baking dish arrange sheets of lasagna. Cover the Lasagna baking dish with half of the tomato mixture and spread evenly. Now arrange the second pasta sheet and cover it with half spinach mixture. Repeat with the second layer of tomato mixture and spinach mixture. Cover it with the fifth lasagna sheet. Spread grated mozzarella cheese over this Lasagna layer evenly and dot with butter.

You can also spread a layer of white sauce on lasagna sheets if you like it extra rich. But I have found that a nice layer of mozzarella cheese adds the same flavor. Cook in the oven at 280 C till the top starts to brown- around 30 minutes. Let it stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Vegetarian Spinach Lasagna

Nothing tastes better than Vegetarian Spinach Lasagna made from scratch. It takes a little extra effort to make sheets at home but it is totally worth it.

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: lasagna with homemade sheets, vegetarian lasagna

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

baking time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings: 4 people

Author: Nidhi

Equipment

OTG

Kadhai

Ingredients

for tomato sauce:

• 5-6 red tomatoes
• 3 onions
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp ginger-green chili paste
• cottage cheese made from 1-liter milk I have shared process in the post if you want to learn how to make cottage cheese
• ½ tsp red chili powder
• ¼ tsp oregano
• ½ tsp black pepper
• salt to taste.
• 2 tbsp oil of your choice

For spinach filling:

• ½ -3/4 Kg spinach washed and chopped I use 3/4 kg as we like a lot of spinach in our lasagna
• 2 onions chopped
• salt and black pepper to taste
• ¼ tsp red chili powder
• ¼ tsp oregano
• 50 grams Cheese
• 2 tbsp oil of your choice

For Lasagna Sheets:

• 1 ½ cup plain flour
• 1 ½ tbsp butter/oil
• ¼ tsp salt
• water as needed
• 1 tsp for boiling lasagne
• 1 tsp for boiling lasagne

For Baking

• 150 gms mozzarella cheese/ or 6 cheese cubes
• 50 gms butter

Instructions

For the Tomato Sauce:

• Grind all the ingredients, except cottage cheese and spices, in a blender to a fine paste.
• Heat oil in a pan, add tomato mixture and spices, and cook till the mixture leaves sides of the pan.
• Now add crumbled cottage cheese (paneer) and cook for 1 more minute.
• Taste the filling. I keep tomato filling a little spicy.

For spinach filling:

• In a large frying pan, add a little oil and fry the onion until translucent.
• Now add spinach and cook for 10 minutes.
• Add salt, chili, black pepper, and oregano.
• Grate cheese and mix well.
• Cook for 2 minutes.

For Lasagna Sheets:

• Sift flour into a mixing bowl, add salt. Rub in butter with your fingertips.
• Knead the dough with the help of your hands until you get smooth dough by adding in water or flour as required.
• Let it rest for about 15-20 minutes.
• Make 5 balls of the pasta dough.
• Roll out one ball at a time with the help of a rolling pin until you get a thin sheet.
• The size of the sheet should be according to your baking dish.
• Cut it in half.
• Lasagna is cooked in the same way as any other pasta.
• Boil water in a large pan. Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tbsp of oil to the boiling water to keep the sheets from sticking to each other.
• Cook the lasagna sheets in boiling water for 3-4 minutes.
• Turn them once after 2 minutes. Do not put all the sheets at once otherwise, they will all stick together.
• Drain them for one minute.

For Baking

• In a greased baking dish arrange sheets of lasagna.
• Cover with half of the tomato mixture and spread evenly.
• Now arrange the second pasta sheet and cover it with half spinach mixture.
• Repeat with the second layer of tomato mixture and spinach mixture.
• Cover it with the fifth lasagna sheet.
• Spread grated mozzarella cheese over this layer evenly and dot with butter.
• Cook in the oven at 280 C till the top starts to brown- around 30 minutes. Let it stand for 10 minutes before serving.
• Cook in the oven at 280 C till the top starts to brown- around 30 minutes.
• Let it stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Tried this recipe?Mention @whatscookingmom or tag #whatscookingmom!

Notes

Tips:

 Try to roll out thin lasagna sheets as they taste better.
Do not skip on oregano because it adds an amazing flavor to lasagna.
You can also spread a layer of white sauce on lasagna sheets if you like it extra rich. But I have found that a nice layer of mozzarella cheese adds the same flavor.

Tips:

Try to roll out thin lasagna sheets as they taste better.
Do not skip on oregano because it adds an amazing flavor to lasagna.

When you make this recipe don’t forget to tag us on Instagram and Facebook or use this hashtag #whatscookingmom
You can share your pics with us on email also (whatscookingmom@gmail.com)

You can have Vegetarian Spinach Lasagna with Roasted Tomato soup 

or with the Virgin mojito