Spinach lasagna “SpinaLasa”

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 75 g bacon, diced
• 2 small onions
• 300 g minced meat, mixed
• 2 tbsp porcini mushrooms, dried
• 500 g frozen spinach (e.g. chopped baby spinach)
• 1 tbsp butter for frying
• 1 cube of meat broth (for 1/2 l broth)
• salt and pepper
• 250 g lasagna sheet(s), dried
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 400 ml milk
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 40 g Parmesan, freshly grated

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour

Break the dried porcini mushrooms into small pieces and soak them in about 2 cups of water for about 30 minutes. Don’t discard the liquid afterwards! Finely chop the onions and lightly fry them in butter in a saucepan with the bacon and the minced meat. Add the frozen spinach to the minced meat and sauté. Then add the porcini mushrooms with the soaking liquid and the stock cube. Let it simmer gently for about 10 minutes with the lid closed. Stir occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Note: The spinach mixture shouldn’t be too dry, as we’re using dried pasta. If you prefer fresh pasta, you can use a little less soaking water. Place a layer of lasagna noodles in a baking dish and cover with a layer of spinach mixture. Alternate layers of pasta and spinach mixture. The last layer should be pasta. For the béchamel sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan and whisk in the flour. Gradually stir in the milk, waiting until the sauce begins to boil. The final sauce should not be too thick. Add a little more milk if needed. Stir in the tomato paste. Pour the béchamel sauce over the lasagna and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake in a preheated oven (convection oven: 175°C, top/bottom heat: 200°C) for 20-30 minutes.