Spinach, Mushroom and Pesto Lasagna

I love lasagna!! It is so fun to experiment with and try to make it different ways.  I also really like spinach and mushrooms so this type was right up my alley!

Ingredients:

12 strips Lasagna

2 10oz packages Spinach

2 8oz packages Mushrooms (I used them all except the five I saved for my eggs)

3/4 cup Pesto

2 cups Italian Blend Cheese

10 oz Ricotta Cheese, Part Skim

1/4 tablespoon Egg Beaters

1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

1 jar Tomato and Basil Spaghetti Sauce

1 can Tomato Sauce

 

Begin by boiling your noodles.  I added a little bit of olive oil to keep them from sticking together.  I only boiled them for about 5 minutes since they would be cooking all day in the slow cooker.

While your water is trying to boil you can start rinsing out your spinach.  I did this to thaw it out and clean it before I could add it to the mixture.

Slice up your mushrooms and mix them together with the spinach and the pesto.  Then set this bowl aside until later.  This smelled sooo good! :)

Combine the ricotta cheese, Italian cheese blend and the egg beaters.  Once this is all mixed together you can stir in 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese.  Then set this bowl aside until it is time to start layering.

Finally you can mix together the spaghetti sauce and the tomato sauce.  I know I was not impressed with how many dished I had to go through to make this meal.

Now you can begin the layering! :)  Start by spreading 1/4 of the tomato mixture across the bottom of the slow cooker.  I used a liner and sprayed it with Pam to ensure an easy clean up.

Place a row of pasta on top of the tomato layer.

Place 1/3 of the cheese mixture on top of the pasta.

Top the cheese mixture with 1/3 of the spinach mixture.

Complete this pattern a total of three times.  Then after the spinach mixture is gone you can place a layer of pasta on top of it.  After this you can finish it off with the rest of the tomato sauce.

I cooked this on low for four and a half hours and then it stayed on warm for five hours.

It was a little overdone to say the least... I think it would be a lot better if you just cooked it on low for 5 hours.  Then I sprinkled it with the rest of the Parmesan and let it sit for a little while longer.

I also wish I would have saved some of the cheese for the top of the lasagna too.

It was really good but it would have been better if it wasn't so overcooked.

Nutritional Info:

8 Servings

WW Points Plus: 12

Calories: 374

Fat: 17

Carbs: 35

Protein: 20

Pumpkin and Chicken Lasagna

I haven't made a lasagna in years and I didn't know you could make them in the slow cooker.  I came across a few pumpkin editions and thought it would be perfect to try since I just did that pumpkin chili.  I had a friend over for dinner and we both thought it was pretty good especially if you are looking to try something new.  I decided to add chicken to mine, but it really didn't need it.  Next time I will leave the chicken out and keep it as a vegetarian meal.

Ingredients:

1 15oz can Pumpkin

1 15oz Low Fat Ricotta

3/4 pack Lasagna Noodles

1 jar Spaghetti Sauce

1 15oz can Pinto Beans

1 jar Sun Dried Tomatoes Pesto

    (or minced Sun Dried Tomatoes)

3/4 lb Boneless Chicken

2 cups Mozzarella Cheese


This was super easy to make and you can get creative with the layering if you want.  There isn't really a right or wrong way to do it.  I started by spraying my slow cooker down with olive oil pam.  Next I covered the bottom of the slow cooker with about 1/4 of the jar of spaghetti sauce and then a layer of noodles.

To prepare the next layer you want to mix together the ricotta and the pumpkin.  This looks a little odd but it tastes really good when it is all finished.

You will be able to keep all of the noodles in place by carefully covering them with half of this mixture.  Sprinkle half of the beans (drained and rinsed) on top and then half of the sun dried tomato pesto.

Add a thin layer of sauce on top of this and then another layer of noodles.  I added another layer of sauce on top of the noodles again because I was afraid they would dry out.  I'm sure they would have been ok without it.  I cut the chicken into little slices and spread them out on top of the sauce.

This was covered by another layer of sauce and then I repeated everything again: noodles, cheese mixture, beans, tomatoes, noodles and finally sauce.

I set the slow cooker on low for 9 hours when I left for work and then it sat on warm for an hour and a half.  I figured it might need a little longer since it was starting out so cold and the raw meat was in the middle.  The noodles were already soft when it started cooking because it sat in the fridge overnight.  I don't know if that would have effected the turnout. 

Clearly I don't think it needed to cook for this long.  The edges were pretty crisp! lol I figured I could hide this because it would be covered with cheese!  Evenly spread the mozzarella cheese on top and stick it in the oven on broil for a couple minutes.  I messed up a bit here.  I started making fried Eggplant while it was in the oven and got a bit distracted....

This didn't ruin the taste of the lasagna but I did learn a lesson on paying attention to the broiler!

I served the Lasagna with Fried Eggplant.  This probably wasn't the healthiest meal we could have had but it hit the spot!  It was very filling... I cut the lasagna into six pieces and they were way too big!  I will definitely serve 8.