Vegetarian Potato Lasagna

Vegetarian Potato Lasagna


We had a lovely end to our weekend enjoying Vegetarian Potato Lasagna with our pals Tim and Eric. The lasagna was served with a side salad and cheese bread. Tim and Eric were kind enough to pick up the cheese bread from Wegman's on their brief weekend trip to Rochester to pick up a new fireplace mantel.

Vegetarian Potato Lasagna
(From a Swedish cookbook-made with potatoes as some Swedes just don't consider pasta to be food)

2 cups water, salted
3 cups baby spinach (5 1/4 ounce bag), washed
2 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese (15 oz. container)
1 bunch fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
zest from 1 lemon
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, divided
2 pounds russet potatoes or large red potatoes (recipe calls for peeled, but I did not peel-for the added color and texture)
1 tbsp butter
2 cups marinara sauce (in our case we used Blue's famous fennel marinara sauce made using food bank farm heirloom tomatoes)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In medium saucepan, bring water to boil and cook spinach for 1 minute. Rinse spinach under cold water until cooled and squeeze out excess water. Chop spinach and add to Ricotta along with parsley, lemon zest, 2 tbsp parmesan and salt and pepper. Cut potatoes into 1/3 inch slices, then boil potato slices for 8-10 minutes until softened, but still easily handled. Rub butter on bottom of 8 x 10 baking dish. Add a layer of potatoes to the dish, then sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, spread on a thin layer of marinara sauce, then spread on half the ricotta mixture. Repeat layers, ending with a third layer of potatoes and a thin final layer of marinara sauce and parmesan. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes then cover in aluminum foil and bake an additional 20 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before cutting into slices.