Pesto Lasagna with Spinach and Mushrooms

 

Don't be fooled by the picture, I promise this is really good. I have a major soft spot for lasagna as is evident by how many lasagna recipes are on this blog already. What could make lasagna better? How about pesto, mushrooms, spinach, left overs AND the fact that you can do it in the crock pot. The ease of this recipe makes it by far my favorite lasagna so far. I have literally been eating it all week for lunch thanks to the fact that it makes 8 servings. We used just regular plain old mushrooms and they were fine as well as store bought pesto. I am pretty sure you could do any lasagna using the crock pot technique but I would just go ahead and make this one because it's a 5 out of 5 stars!

Source: Cooking Light

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 4 cups torn spinach
• 2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
• ¹⁄₂ cup commercial pesto
• ³⁄₄ cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• ³⁄₄ cup (3 ounces) shredded provolone cheese
• 1 (15-ounce) carton fat-free ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg lightly beaten
• ³⁄₄ cup (3 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese divided
• 1 (25.5-ounce) bottle fat-free tomato-basil pasta sauce
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• Cooking spray
• 1 (8-ounce) package precooked lasagna noodles (12 noodles)

Directions

1. Arrange the spinach in a vegetable steamer; steam, covered, 3 minutes or until spinach wilts. Drain, squeeze dry, and coarsely chop. Combine spinach, mushrooms, and pesto in a medium bowl, stirring to combine; set aside.
2. Combine mozzarella, provolone, ricotta, and beaten egg in a medium bowl, stirring well to combine. Stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan, and set aside. Combine the pasta sauce and the tomato sauce in a medium bowl.
3. Spread 1 cup pasta sauce mixture in the bottom of a 6-quart oval electric slow cooker coated with cooking spray. Arrange 3 noodles over pasta sauce mixture; top with 1 cup cheese mixture and 1 cup spinach mixture. Repeat the layers, ending with spinach mixture. Arrange 3 noodles over spinach mixture; top with remaining 1 cup cheese mixture and 1 cup pasta sauce mixture. Place remaining 3 noodles over sauce mixture; spread remaining sauce mixture over noodles. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan. Cover with lid; cook on LOW 5 hours or until done.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 398

Fat: 18.2g

Cholesterol: 56mg

Sodium: 1036mg

Fiber: 2g

Protein: 22.2g