Spinach and Prosciutto Lasagna

On Thursday night I decided to make a nice hot dinner since my husband has been sick with a cold. I found a recipe a little while ago in Everyday Food (Martha Stewart) for spinach and prosciutto lasagna—it sounded good and looked very easy to make, so I gave it a shot.

Here’s the thing. As I mentioned in my other blog, I love Martha and her recipes, but every once in a while I try one of her recipes and it’s all jacked up. This was one of those recipes. The measurements were really off. By that I mean I precisely followed the recipe, but realized a little less than halfway through that I had way more filling and sauce/prosciutto mix than I needed to fill the lasagna. I ended up adding an extra layer to the lasagna, plus I added more filling and sauce/prosciutto mix to each layer. Even so, I still ended up with leftover ingredients. Annoying and, more importantly (particularly given the country’s economic woes), not terribly cost effective. I didn’t have enough left over to make another lasagna, so I ended up having to trash the remainder. I hate being a food waster.

Anyway, the recipe is below. Despite all my griping, the dish itself tasted really good, plus it didn’t take longer to cook even with the extra layer and additional filling. I would recommend trying it out if you don’t mind having to fudge things a little. I think after a couple tries you can find a way to make sure all ingredients are used.

2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 1/2 cups part-skim ricotta
1 garlic clove, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 1/2 cups jarred tomato sauce (I like Bertolli Organic Olive Oil, Basil & Garlic)
4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, finely chopped
6 no-boil lasagna noodles (I used Barilla)
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella (4 ounces)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make filling: In a medium bowl, stir together spinach, ricotta, garlic, teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; set aside. In another medium bowl, stir together tomato sauce and prosciutto.

In an 8-inch square baking dish, spread cup tomato sauce. Layer 2 noodles, 1/3 filling, and 1/3 remaining tomato sauce; repeat twice. Top with mozzarella. Bake until browned, 35 to 40 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

BTW, my husband loved it so much he ate three pieces.