Freeze-Ahead Lasagna Primavera

September 7, 2009

Get ready for a completely different take on traditional red-sauce lasagna. Your family will enjoy this slight change of pace and you will to.

Freeze-Ahead Lasagna Primavera



Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for foil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups whole milk
2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas
1/2 pound carrots (4 to 5), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 container (15 ounces) part-skim ricotta (about 2 cups)
1 large egg
1 package (9 ounces) no-boil lasagna noodles (12 to 16 noodles)
1 pound part-skim mozzarella, shredded
1 cup grated Parmesan


To Prepare
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium; add flour and garlic.
- Cook, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes (do not let flour mixture darken); whisk in milk. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook, whisking occasionally, until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add spinach, peas, and carrots; season with salt and pepper. Set sauce aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and teaspoon pepper.
- In the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch aluminum baking dish, spread a thin layer of vegetable sauce. Layer noodles, half the remaining vegetable sauce, another noodles, half the ricotta mixture, half the mozzarella, and half the Parmesan; repeat.

To Freeze
- Cover dish with aluminum foil and freeze (do not cook first) .

To Serve
- Thaw completely in refridgerator.
- Bake 45 minutes, uncover, and bake until bubbling and browned, about 20 minutes more. Let cool 10 to 15 minutes before serving.


*photo and recipe from Everyday Foods

4 comments:

Anonymous,  September 21, 2009  

Made this today, and it was delish. My family didn't even miss the meat.

Kris,  January 23, 2010  

I am so happy to have found your website!!! After browsing through it for a few minutes, I already know I'll be spending a lot of time here during the next few weeks.

I *love* cooking and I do it a lot, but lately I haven't had a lot of time any more (new job, baby on the way,...) so I'm thinking of cooking huge batches and freezing them. So your website is a real find!!

A really dumb question maybe... This lasagna recipee looks delicous. I'd love to make it and freeze a few batches, but one stupid question... The part I want to freeze, do I need to cook it first in the oven, let it cool down and then freeze, or do I freeze it immediately after creating the layers and so on??

That's not 100% clear from the recipee. (maybe this is described in other parts of the website, but I haven't read it all yet, sorry)

Thank you for your help and thank you again for the website.

Unused Account January 23, 2010  

Kris. I updated it..thanks for letting me know it wasn't clear. You do NOT cook it first.

Kris,  January 23, 2010  

Hi Emilie, wow, that was a speedy answer, thank you! Meanwhile I've been looking at some of your recipees and I'll be working my way through it the next couple of months. Come to think of it, need a bigger freezer! :-)

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About This Blog

A new recipe will be posted each Monday and, of course, you can always search the archives by category.

The Goal of this blog is not just to give you my recipes, but to teach you which ingredients freeze well, which don't, methods and tips to help you freeze your own recipes...because who knows better what your family likes than you?

Do you only cook organic? Great! Are you a vegetarian? No problem! Make what works for you and save time, money and (let's be honest...stress) while doing it.

The Freeze Happy philosophy has made my life better and I'm pretty sure it can improve yours too.

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