A hearty, cheesy, healthy make ahead lighter lasagna, loaded with a lighter cream sauce, and spinach. This lasagna is a simple make ahead dish that's lighter in calories but fully delivers on flavor.
10sheetslasagnacooked according to the package instructions
2packagesfrozen spinachdefrosted
For the White Sauce
¼cupbuttermelted
¼cupflour
3cupsmilkwhole or semi skimmed
1teaspoonnutmeg
6sprigsfresh thyme
2cupsreduced fat mozzarellagrated
1cupasiagograted
6slicesproscuitto
Instructions
Cook the lasagna noodles according to the package directions, and set aside.
To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over a medium heat. Once melted add the flour and whisk to a thick paste also called a roux. Cook this out over the heat for about 2 minutes. This cooks out the flour.
Slowly add the milk to the roux, while whisking continuously. Once all the milk is added bring the bechamel sauce the a boil for a minute. For a flour thickened sauce to reach it's full thickness the sauce needs to come to a boil. Add the nutmeg.
Squeeze all the excess moisture from the spinach.
To assemble
In a round or square oven proof dish lay out a layer of the noodles.
Top the layer with ⅓ of the bechamel sauce.
Layer ⅓ of the spinach onto the sauce.
Mix the two grated cheeses together and top the spinach layer with 1 cup of cheese.
Continue with the layering process three more times, until all the ingredients are used.
Top with the proscuitto.
Notes
At this point you can choose to freeze the lasagna with a double layer of aluminum foil clearly labeled and dated. Or you can pre-heat the oven to 350f and bake the lasagna for about 40 minutes.
Directions for cooking the lasagna after freezing: Defrost the lasagna, remove the foil and cook as instructed above.
If cooking from frozen, leave the foil on and cook for about 1 hour or until the lasagna is hot, then remove the foil and bake for a further 30 minutes to crisp the proscuitto and brown the cheese.