Inside-Out Lasagna?

I took this recipe for Inside-Out Lasagna from my Eating Well magazine… it’s like a deconstructed lasagna of sorts. I added mozzarella cheese to the mix, and, well, I mixed it all up. I also used a full box of whole-wheat pasta and more mushrooms. The picture at the bottom shows the recipe version of this dish, before I added the extra cheese and mixed mine together.

The dish had a familiar taste to it, similar to lasagna… I think the ricotta cheese added the most for that effect. The diced tomatoes made it lighter than the traditional tomato sauce, and we enjoyed this as a weeknight meal. This dish had all my required elements for such weeknight meals: it is basically quick to prepare; it is healthyish and good-for-you; it provides leftovers; and it is simply quite tasty. I don’t know that I’d go so far as to call it lasagna-like, but I’ll definitely be adding it to my menus on a regular basis.

1.  Bring large pot of water to boil.  Add pasta and cook accordingly.  Drain and transfer to large bowl.

2.  As pasta cooks, heat oil in saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add onion and garlic.  Cook, while stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until it begins to soften.  Add mushrooms and salt.  Cook, while stirring, for 5-6 minutes or until mushrooms begin to release their liquid.

3.  Add diced tomatoes, spinach and crushed red pepper flakes.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is wilted, about 5 minutes.

4.  Toss sauce with pasta and serve with 3 Tbsp. dollops of ricotta cheese on top (bottom pic).  This is where I added some shredded mozzarella and mixed everything together (top pic).  Yum!