Diet - Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna

Love Italian food? You don’t have to cut it out of your diet! Lasagna is typically loaded with cheese, high in fat and calories but this healthy recipe cuts 400 calories, 25 grams of fat and 14 grams of saturated fat.

1-lb. lasagna noodles
4 tsp. olive oil
1-lb. sliced mushrooms

¼ tsp. dried oregano

4 large cloves garlic, minced

4 bunches fresh spinach, stemmed and washed

2 C low-fat ricotta cheese

2 C tomato sauce

1 C shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese

½ C breadcrumbs

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

First, bring a large pot of water to boil (make sure the water is salted) and prepare a large bowl of ice water. Add the lasagna noodles to the boiling water and cook until they are just about to get soft. Quickly remove the noodles from the pot and put them in the bowl of ice water to cool and stop them from cooking. Drain the noodles and lay them out on paper towels.

Next, heat 2 tsp. olive in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and oregano and cook for 2 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add half of the minced garlic and cook until mushrooms are browned on edges. Set aside in a strainer to drain excess liquid.

Using the same pan, wipe the excess oil and then add the remaining olive oil over medium-high heat. Throw in the rest of the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Toss in the spinach and cook until it is wilted. Put the spinach in a strainer and drain excess liquid.

Preheat the oven to 325F.

In a medium-sized bowl, add the ricotta cheese, nutmeg and salt/pepper to taste. Make sure the mixture is stirred evenly.

Next, cover the bottom of a large, deep baking dish with a thin coat of tomato sauce. Next, add a single layer of lasagna noodles. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over the noodles and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Add all of the mushrooms on top of the cheese and sprinkle with 1/3 of the breadcrumbs. Add another layer with noodles, ricotta, spinach, mozzarella and another 1/3 of breadcrumbs. The next layer will be noodles, the rest of the ricotta, mozzarella and the remaining tomato sauce. Finish it off with a layer of noodles, mozzarella and breadcrumbs.

Cover the baking dish with foil and bake in the oven for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the top is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

Servings: 8, Fat: 11g, Calories: 419

Labels: fitness 4 home superstore, healthy diet, healthy eating, healthy food, low calorie, low fat, low-fat