This lasagna is one of the first dishes my partner ever cooked for me. The original recipe came straight out of an old-school American cookbook, classic and delicious. Over the years we’ve added our own touches, alterations, and variations to make it our own. It’s not a holiday recipe per se, but it’s got a cheesy rib-sticking warmth that suits the colder months.

It’s great for leftovers, and it travels well too—just save the bake for your destination. It handily serves six to eight people, depending on their appetites.

Ingredients
  • 6 lasagna noodles
  • olive oil
  • 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 14-oz can tomato sauce
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1-2 tbsp? oregano (I think)
  • 1-2 tbsp? basil (I think)
  • 1-2 tbsp? fennel seeds (I think)
  • 8-12 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 cups loose spinach
  • 1 egg
  • 8 oz ricotta cheese
  • shredded mozzarella
  • ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F, and start a pot of water boiling.

  2. While that’s going, heat a medium sized saucepan on medium heat. When the saucepan is good and hot, add olive oil and drop in the garlic:

    • Sauté the garlic for 30 seconds.
    • Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and fennel seeds.
    • Then sprinkle oregano on top to cover the sauce (sorry, not sure how much this is), stir it in, and then do the same with the basil.
    • When the sauce starts to bubble, turn off the heat, and put aside.

  3. Heat a separate pan to medium high, and when it’s hot, add olive oil, and sauté the mushrooms. These release a lot of water, which you can discard. I’ve experimented with working it into the sauce, but it didn’t really help.

  4. Maybe by now your water is boiling? When it is, add the lasagna noodles, and cook according to the instructions. We like to cook the noodles all the way: some boxes only partially cook the noodles at this stage, leaving the rest for the bake. We don’t do that.

  5. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg—I like to beat the egg white first and then add the yolk to try to make it fluffier. Then add the ricotta and half the parmesan (¼ cup). Mix together. By this time, I’m not sure if the effort of beating the egg white first makes any difference, but I haven’t had the opportunity to scientifically compare. If you do, please let me know!

  6. So now you have noodles, egg/cheese mixture, sauce, mushrooms, spinach, shredded mozzarella, and parmesan. We’ll add these layer by layer into a 9" × 14" casserole, and do it twice.

    • Start by laying down 3 of the noodles to cover the bottom of the pan. Next, spread half of the egg/cheese mixture in a thin layer.
    • Cover that with a thin layer of spinach leaves, and then arrange half the mushrooms on top.
    • Cover all that with half of the tomato sauce, and if some rogue spinach pops above the sauce, try to squish it under.
    • Lastly, cover the sauce with half the shredded mozzarella.
    • Now, repeat: noodles, egg/cheese mixture, spinach, mushrooms, tomato sauce, and mozzarella. And this time, sprinkle the remaining parmesan on top.

  7. Our oven is ridiculously unreliable, so where the original recipe calls for a 35 minute bake, sometimes ours is done in 20 minutes. You can tell by when the cheese on top just starts to brown. Let it cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

Variations include substituting eggplant parmigiana for the spinach and mushrooms, or adding beyond meat or impossible meat to the tomato sauce.

Enjoy!