Sunday, April 19, 2009

Mushroom & Swiss Chard Lasagna

1 lb Swiss chard, well rinsed, or 16 oz frozen spinach
2 tsp olive oil
1 lb cremini or baby bella mushrooms, quartered
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 26-oz jar marinara sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg
1 15-oz container low-fat ricotta cheese
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 pkg oven-ready lasagna noodles
2 cups grated part-skim mozzarella cheese

1) Bring large pot of water to a boil. Remove stems from Swiss chard leaves; cut into 1/2 inch lengths. Cut leaves into 1 inch strips. Add stems to boiling water, cover and cook 3 minutes. Add leaves, cover and cook until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water; press out excess moisture.
2) Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, and cook, stirring occasionally, 3 to 5 minutes, or until browned. Add garlic and crushed red pepper; cook, stirring, about 10 seconds. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in Swiss chard and 2 cups marinara sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
3) Whisk together egg, ricotta, 1/3 cup of the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper in bowl. Put 3 or 4 lasagna noodles in large bowl, and cover with warm water; let soak.
4) Preheat oven to 400F.
5) Spread about 1/2 cup marinara sauce in 9x13 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Place 3 or 4 dry noodles over sauce. Cover with 2/3 cup ricotta mixture. Top with 1 1/2 cups Swiss chard mixture. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella. Repeat layering two times.
6) Lift soaked noodles from water, pat dry and arrange on top of lasagna. Cover with remaining marinara sauce. Tightly cover pan with aluminum foil.
7) Bake 35 minutes, and uncover. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, until noodles are tender, about 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Review: I've learned I tend to not read the instructions thoroughly if there's too many steps. I dumped the whole jar of marinara sauce in with the Swiss chard, so the bottom of my lasagna is chunky. Oops. We also used Dreamfields' lasagna noodles, so I had to boil those. That shaved a few minutes off the baking, but not much. We also had a bizarre phenomenon that started with breakfast. We used six eggs for omelettes, and five of them had double yolks. The egg I used for this recipe also had a double yolk. So, our egg company obviously has mutant chickens and my recipes will be a little more yolky. :) Anyways, I used baby bella mushrooms and Swiss chard, which turned out to be an awesome combination. We loved this, but I also believe we haven't met a lasagna yet that we didn't like.

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