Mushroom and Artichoke Lasagna

I think this will be my last new slowcooker recipe for awhile. It was ok, but I'm ready to go back to cooking in the afternoons.

This recipe came out of the cookbook I mentioned in a previous post. I thought it looked good but not terribly lowfat. I reduced where I could - lowfat cheeses.

I started by chopping 4 portabellas, 2 onions, 2 cans of artichoke hearts, 5 cloves of garlic, and I thawed a container of frozen spinach.

I sauteed the onions first, then the mushrooms and garlic until the mushrooms began releasing liquid, and then I added the artichoke hearts.


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The recipe called for fresh baby spinach as one of the layers, but I decided to cut corners and costs by using a box of frozen spinach. I squeezed it dry and mixed it in with the ricotta so I could spread them together. One less layer! I also shredded 2 cups of lowfat mozzarella and 1/2 cup Parm/Reggiano.

I sprayed the crock with nonstick spray and then put my first layer of oven-ready lasagna noodles.


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Then half the spinach/ricotta...

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Half the mushroom mixture...

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And 1/3 of the mozzarella and parm/regg...

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I repeated the layers and then topped with one last layer of pasta and the rest of the shredded cheese. ETA: I POURED 3/4 CUP OF WHITE WINE AND THE LIQUID FROM THE SAUTEED MUSHROOMS OVER THE TOP OF THIS TO GIVE IT PLENTY OF MOISTURE TO COOK IN. I ALSO ADDED MORE WINE AT ABOUT THE 3 HOUR MARK.

At 6.5 hours, I turned it to "keep warm" because it was getting VERY brown on top. I thought this was good - with this much cheese, how could it not be? But the whole thing tasted a tad overcooked to me. Well, actually, the brown crispy stuff on the top was delicious. If I were doing it again, I would probably double the frozen spinach (or maybe try the fresh), try making tofu ricotta (I want to try this!), and I'd make it in the morning, refrigerate, and then bake in the oven.

It made plenty of leftovers for lunch, and I can't wait for my second helping today!


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Next week I'm going to try some new things out of Clean Eating Magazine. And Carla told me you can buy fresh pizza dough at Whole Foods, so I'm hoping to try that this Friday night.