Spinach and Artichoke Lasagna with Fresh Pasta

Calorie Content: 425 a serving (4 servings to a recipe)
Cost Per Serving: $2.17

Spinach and artichokes are two of my favorite foods.  Tonight I thought to myself...why not put them into a lasagna?  I wanted to keep the tomato/mozzarella goodness of a regular lasagna but simply add the elements of spinach and artichokes.  I am very happy with the results.

This recipe includes homemade pasta noodles, but you could of course used store bought.  I love to make my own pasta and it is easier than you would think!  Depending on who you talk to, or what website you look at, you will find a million different recipes for pasta dough.  Play around and find the ones you like!  No matter which one you choose, they all taste better than store bought dry pasta, that is for sure.

Ingredients of pasta dough:
1 cup flour (plus a little to dust with)
1 egg
1 tbs oil
a few tbs water

Mix oil, flour and egg together, add water until dough is mixed all together but not sticky.  Pat with flour and place to the side for at least a half hour.  Once dough has sat for a half hour, put through a pasta maker or roll out with pin to desired thickness. I did the #6 on my machine.

This is the pasta cutter I use, it's a hand crank and it was cheap!  Does the trick!

Ingredients Filling:

1.5c pasta sauce

1tbs olive oil

92 g raw onion diced (about half an onion)

2 garlic cloves minced

170g raw baby spinach (you could use frozen if you want)

1c vegetable stock

100g canned artichoke hearts

186g ricotta cheese

7oz fresh mozzarella, sliced into thin disks

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees

In a fry pan, sautee onion and garlic in olive oil.  Once onion is translucent, add spinach, artichokes and stock to pan.  Cook over medium heat until liquid is absorbed.

While the mixture is cooking, cover the bottom of a 9x9 baking pan with 1/2 cup of tomato sauce.  Over tomato sauce, place one layer of noodles.  Gently spread 1/2 of ricotta over the pasta sheets (you will have to be careful with this if using fresh pasta, you may have to warm up ricotta so it spreads easily).  

Spread the spinach and artichoke mixture over the ricotta evenly, then cover with another layer of pasta.  Spread the other half of the ricotta cheese over the pasta, followed by 1/2c sauce, another layer of pasta, last 1/2c sauce.  Lastly, lay the fresh mozzarella over the top.

Cover the dish with foil and cook for 40 minutes, uncover and bake for another 15.  Remove from oven and let set for 5-10 minutes before serving.