Tired of tradtional Lasagna?

That isn't really a fair question, because who tires of lasagna? Pasta, sauce, cheese, meat, these are a few of my favorite things.  With this recipe, when you think lasagna, you have to ask, "Tradional, spinach or BROCCOLI?"  I love broccoli - fiber (duh), it is really green which means it has a lot of nutrients and the great part about this recipe is that it recommends using frozen broccoli florets.  There is one thing I dislike about broccoli - when you bye fresh broccoli, and take the time to slice and dice, the tiny bits of broccoli get everywhere.  Buy frozen - it is just as nutrient packed and healthy as fresh.  RealSimple is true to keeping life simply amazing - enjoy the recipe and check out my comments (noted with ***and then my priceless comment) of where I made small adjustments.

Broccoli and Three-Cheese Lasagna

 

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 15m | Total Time: 1hr 10m

***I would like to meet these 4 sumo wrestlers because this fed me dinner for 8 nights (paired with a side salad and see other adjustments)

Ingredients

• 1 15-ounce container ricotta (about 1 3/4 cups) ***I risked using the fat free, aka skim, ricotta and it turned out great
• 1 pound frozen broccoli florets—thawed, patted dry, and chopped***DO NOT put these on a cloth dish towel because your towel will stink
• 2 1/4 cups grated mozzarella (9 ounces)***this is kind of an annoying amount because the grated cheese you buy comes in 8oz bags, so I bought one bag and saved a little bit to sprinkle on top - no damage done
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces)
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 16-ounce jar marinara sauce***I will always recommend Prego Traditional, maybe because that is what I was raised on, but I just think it is the best
• 1/2 cup heavy cream ***I considered skipping this, but decided to follow the recipe and added whipping cream and I really do think it made a difference
• 8 no-boil lasagna noodles***I admittedly didn't know no-boil existed and bought regular noodles and boiled them, but 8 wasn't enough, will do 12 next time
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the foil
• 4 cups mixed greens***optional, this is for the salad
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice***salad

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400º F. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, broccoli, 2 cups of the mozzarella, ¼ cup of the Parmesan,½  teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. In a small bowl, combine the marinara sauce and cream.
2. Spoon a thin layer of the sauce into the bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish. Top with 2 noodles, a quarter of the remaining sauce, and a third of the broccoli mixture; repeat twice. Top with the remaining 2 noodles and sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of mozzarella and ¼ cup of Parmesan. ***I needed more noodles because I used a 9x13 inch pan
3. Cover tightly with an oiled piece of foil and bake until the noodles are tender, 35 to 40 minutes. Uncover and bake until the top is golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. ***not sure what this oiling the foil business is and I didn't oil my foil because removing a piece of foil covered in hot oil sounded like a bad idea
4. Toss the greens with the olive oil, lemon juice, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Serve with the lasagna. ***toss that salad friends!

I made one addition to this recipe - notice there isn't any meat?! I added italian sausage flavored turkey burger and...IT.WAS.AMAZING!  I recommend adding meat, it just seems right.