Beef, lentil and spinach lasagna
150 min · 40 g protein · 440 cals / serving
Every layer of the lasagna you know, built to carry more: a beef and lentil ragù thick with mushrooms, a creamy blended cottage-cheese layer with spinach and nutmeg, real pasta sheets, and a browned mozzarella top. It still slices into proper squares.
Ingredients
Ragù
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, grated
- 350 g mushrooms, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/8 lb ground beef (95% lean)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2/3 cup lentils, brown or green, rinsed
- 2 cans (400 g each) canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Creamy layer
- 2 1/2 cups cottage cheese (1%)
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
- 4 big handfuls baby spinach, chopped
- 200 g (about 12 sheets) pasta, no-boil lasagna sheets
- 1 1/4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
Steps
- Warm the oil in a wide pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot and mushrooms and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms have given up their water and it has cooked away, 10–12 minutes.
- Add the garlic and beef and break the meat up as it browns, until no pink remains and it reaches 160°F. Stir in the tomato paste and fry it for a minute until it darkens.
- Add the lentils, crushed tomatoes, water, basil, oregano, salt (a little less than usual: the cottage cheese is salted) and pepper. Simmer gently, partly covered, for 35 minutes, stirring now and then, until the lentils are tender and the ragù is thick but still saucy, like a good pasta sauce. The no-boil sheets drink some of its liquid as they bake, but a watery ragù makes a lasagna that slumps.
- Meanwhile, blend the cottage cheese, egg, parmesan and nutmeg until smooth and creamy, then stir in the chopped spinach.
- Heat the oven to 375°F. In a 23 × 33 cm (9 × 13-inch) dish, spread a thin layer of ragù, then repeat sheets, cottage-cheese mixture and ragù three times, so the top layer is ragù. Scatter the mozzarella over the top.
- Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes, then uncover and bake 20–25 minutes more, until bubbling at the edges, browned on top and 165°F in the center. Rest 20 minutes before cutting.
Good to know
Why blend the cottage cheese?
Blended smooth with the egg and parmesan it bakes into a creamy, custardy layer that eats like béchamel and ricotta together. Unblended, the curds stay visible and the layer weeps.
Can I assemble it the day before?
Yes. Cover and refrigerate, then add 15 minutes to the covered bake so the middle heats through. No-boil sheets soften a little overnight, which only helps.
Do I really have to wait 20 minutes?
Yes. The layers set as it cools a little; cut straight from the oven and the squares slide apart into a heap.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 124
- Protein
- (38%)
- 11 g
- Fat
- (25%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (38%)
- 13 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 316 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 3522 kcal goes into the pot and 3603 g of ingredients comes out as about 2850 g of food: 124 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.