Lasagna for the new millenium.  Fast and easy because the recipe calls for pre-made marinara sauce, no boil lasagna noodes, pre-shredded cheese, etc.

Pre-prep

Preheat oven to 350

Decide which non-reactive 9 X 13 (or there abouts) baking dish you are going to use

***What is a non-reactive baking dish *** 

Ingredients

• 2 10 oz. boxes, chopped spinach
• 1 lb. mushrooms, cremini, sliced
• 1 onion, yellow, chopped
• 2 Tbsp garlic, chopped (more or less)
• 1/2 cup sherry
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 cups grated Italian 5 cheese blend (or more)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp oregano, dry (would be better with fresh...)
• 2 tsp basil, dry (would be better with fresh...)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1- 25 oz jar good quality marinara sauce (or more if necessary)
• 9 to 12 lasagna noodles: No boil variety (or more)
• 1 cup water

Panic Mode:  More noodles, another part of a jar of marinara sauce, and some more cheese.... See directions below

Directions:

You need to know that I have a problem actually following recipe directions, so this is sort of what I did.

Thaw out the spinach, drain, and squeeze the liquid out.  The only way I see doing this is by clumping the spinach in your hands and squeezing until there is no more juice.

Historical Note:  Grandma Tuso said the spinach had to be chopped fine, so this would be the point where you chop the already chopped spinach to her specifications!

1. Saute the onion, mushrooms & garlic in olive oil, add some sherry, and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, 1/2 the grated cheese, egg, spinach, oregano, basil, mushroom mixture, salt & pepper.
3. Spray the baking dish with Pam
4. Spoon 1 cup sauce in the baking dish
5. Put a layer of noodles down
6. Put a layer of the cheese mixture

Repeat the layers

Panic Mode:  This is the point where I paniced because it looked too thin in the baking dish.  I made another layer of just sauce and cheese.  So maybe buy more cheese, sauce & noodles and add it to the cheese mixture so it is thicker in the baking dish.

Whatever you decide to do, the final layer is noodles with sauce and 1 cup cheese sprinkled on top.

The original recipe said to pour 1 cup of water around the edges, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake for 1 1/4 hours.  I left out the water, but maybe it would have been better with it,

Whatever you do, let it stand at least 15 minutes or more to set up before you serve it.

I served it with a big green salad w/balsamic dressing and grilled vegetables.

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