Spinach and tomato lasagna

Spinach and tomato lasagna is a delicious vegetarian dish. I realized this dish combining  Greek and  Italian tradition, which are very similar. I prepared, in fact, spinach following the Greek tradition, and then I seasoned lasagna following the Italian one. The result is a delicate  and very tasty dish!

Spinach and tomato lasagna

Difficulty: medium	Prep time: 30 minutes	Cook: 45 minutes
Serves: 6	Cost: medium

Ingredients

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• 9 lasagna sheets
  
• 600 g spinach
• 1/2 onion
• 200 g canned tomatoes
• 8  tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1  tbsp breadcrumbs
• bechamel sauce
  
• salt

for the bechamel sauce

• 80 g butter
• 80 g flour
• 600 g milk
• salt

Instructions

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Remove any damaged or dry leaves of the spinach,  cut off the final part of the stems and discard.

Clean the spinach by soaking in cold water. Drain the spinach and repeat soaking and draining till it’s clean.

Put the spinach in a salad spinner to remove any excess moisture.

Chop coarsely spinach into pieces of about 3 cm.

Pour in the bottom of a large pot 3 tablespoons olive oil. Put the spinach in the pot, cover and cook over medium-low heat, for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

I use the lasagne no boil, which do not need to be precooked. To cook them you need to make a  very liquid sauce.

Chop  finely 1/2 onion (if it is large, otherwise a small one). Heat in a saucepan 5 tablespoons olive oil, add chopped onion and saute for a few minutes over low heat.

Pour into the saucepan the mashed tomatoes, salt and cook for about 5 minutes. Pour into saucepan 1 and 1/2 cup water and cook the sauce for about 15 minutes.

Combine the sauce with spinach and cook for about 5 minutes. Season with more salt if necessary.

Prepare the bechamel sauce following the recipe.

Spread some spinach and tomato sauce in the bottom of a baking dish and arrange 3 sheets of lasagne over it, leaving a space of 1-2 cm between each sheet.

Spread with tomato sauce and spinach. Add some bechamel sauce and 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese.

Add  2 more layers of lasagna, sauce with spinach, bechamel sauce and grated parmesan. Top with a layer of bechamel sauce, grated Parmesan cheese and some breadcrumbs.

The lasagna should be almost covered by the sauce, because since we did not pre-cooked it, it should be cooked in the oven with the liquid of the sauce.

Bake in preheated oven, 180 °C (360° F), for about 30 minutes.

Cool for about 15 minutes before serving.