Spinach And Mushroom Lasagna With Ricotta Cheese

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 tablespoon garlic paste minced Garlic
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups 2% milk
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 bay leaf
• ground pepper to Taste
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 7 lasagna sheets Brown Rice
• 5 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese crumbled
• 1 pinch salt
• 10 ounces fresh spinach with trimmed ends
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 4 ounces button mushrooms trimmed and sliced thick

1. Let's start with the spinach. I would normally steam it, but in this case I just blanched them in boiling salt water for about 10 seconds or until just wilted.
2. Transfer to a cold water bath or just sprinkle cold water to stop it from cooking further and let it cool. Takes about a minute.
3. Now squeeze out the water as much as possible.
4. Chop it coarsely and set aside.
5. In a pan, melt 1 tbsp butter and add the mushrooms.
6. Cook them until slightly browned. Set aside.
7. In the same pan, melt 2 tbsp butter in medium heat until it starts foaming.
8. Add the onion and garlic paste and cook whisking it until the onions are soft.
9. Next, add in the flour and cook- keep whisking it to avoid the butter from browning. We do this in order to toast the flour (to avoid the raw grainy taste later on)
10. Gradually add in the milk and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Keep whisking it.
11. Add the bay leaf, nutmeg, salt and pepper, and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. Whisk it on and off.
12. When you find the mixture is thick and saucy, add the Parmesan cheese and whisk until mixed. Remove the bay leaf.
13. Set aside about 1/4 cup of the sauce and in the remaining sauce, whisk in the spinach until well combined. You would have around 2 cups of the spinach-bechamel sauce.
14. While this is happening, in another pan, cook pasta according to the manufacturer's instructions.
15. In another bowl, whisk the ricotta cheese with salt until smooth. Set aside.
16. Preheat oven to 425F. Grease your baking dish with some butter. I used a 6 cup 8x6x2" dish for my lasagna, but you can use whatever you have. Layer the bottom with some bechamel sauce (about 1/4 cup that you set aside).
17. Now place 3 noodles on top of it, side by side. Since I did not have much space, I overlapped my noodles. NOTE: From here on, you can layer it as your fancy strikes. Just make sure to have some sauce and cheese leftover for the last layer to cover the noodles.
18. Spread about 1/2 cup of the spinach mixture.
19. Sprinkle Parmesan over the spinach mixture.
20. Layer that again with 3 more noodles.
21. Layer that with 1/2 cup spinach mixture and 1/2 cup of Mozzarella cheese.
22. Layer the ricotta cheese mixture over it and spread until it covers the layer.
23. Followed by mushrooms.
24. I cut the remaining lasagna sheet into half and covered the middle and enclosed the overhanging noodles (that I layered before) on the ends. Now you know why the odd number 7.
25. Cover with remaining spinach mixture completely enclosing the pasta.
26. Toss in the mozzarella cheese as the last layer.
27. Cover the top with foil (grease the inner side of the foil with some oil so that it doesn't stick to the cheese)
28. And bake for 10-15 minutes or until it starts bubbling. Remove the foil.
29. and now Broil the lasagna for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is browned in spots. Let it cool for about 10 minutes.
30. Cut them into pieces and serve. Enjoy!

butter, onion, garlic, flour, milk, nutmeg, salt, bay leaf, ground pepper, parmesan cheese, lasagna sheets brown rice, milk ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, salt, fresh spinach, salt, mushrooms

Taken from www.yummly.com/recipe/Spinach-and-Mushroom-Lasagna-with-Ricotta-Cheese--1128325 (may not work)