Loosely inspired by the lasagna verde from Rolo’s, a cozy restaurant in Queens, New York, this version is something of a rule-breaker. For one, the sauce starts with still-frozen spinach, which turns rich in the blender when combined with steaming hot milk and grated cheese. Using a baking sheet instead of a deeper baking dish cuts down the bake time to a reasonable length for a weeknight while yielding more of those prized edge pieces. Store-bought fresh lasagna sheets, easy to find in many supermarkets, shave off even more time and elevate the lasagna to truly restaurant-quality.
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What you’ll need
Blender
$40 At Amazon
Rimmed Baking Sheet
$30 At Amazon
Box Grater
$9 At Amazon
Large Skillet
$74 At Amazon
Medium Saucepan
$50 $39 At Amazon
Recipe information
Total Time
1 hour
Yield
6 servings
Ingredients
1
1
1
6
1
1
3
1
½
8
8
1
1
Preparation
Step 1
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 375°. Heat 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Cook 1 lb. hot Italian sausage, casings removed, 1 medium onion, finely chopped, and 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped, breaking up sausage into small pieces with a wooden spoon and stirring occasionally, until onion is softened and translucent and sausage is cooked through, 8–10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Break up any remaining large pieces of sausage with a fork or potato masher.
Step 2
Meanwhile, place one 1-lb. bag frozen spinach in a blender. Remove zest from 1 lemon in wide strips with a vegetable peeler; add zest to a medium saucepan. Add 3 cups whole milk, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, ½ tsp. freshly ground pepper, and remaining 4 whole garlic cloves to saucepan. Heat over medium-high, stirring occasionally, just until milk is steaming, about 5 minutes. Immediately pour over spinach and blend, starting on low speed and gradually increasing to high, until mixture is smooth and bright green.
Step 3
Toss 8 oz. low-moisture mozzarella, coarsely grated (about 2 cups), and 8 oz. Parmesan, finely grated (about 4 cups), in a large bowl to combine; set aside 1½ cups for topping. Add remaining cheese mixture to spinach sauce in blender. Pour in 1 cup heavy cream; blend just until combined.
Step 4
Pour one third of spinach sauce (about 2¼ cups) onto an 18x13" rimmed baking sheet and spread to edges of pan with a large spoon. If 1 lb. fresh lasagna sheets are in large strips, cut in half or thirds (this allows the noodles to become appealingly wavy in the oven). Arrange half of sheets in a single layer to cover sauce, trimming to fit as needed. Spoon sausage mixture evenly over pasta, then top with half of remaining sauce. Arrange remaining lasagna sheets in a single layer across surface. Pour remaining sauce over and spread evenly to cover pasta. Scatter reserved cheese mixture on top.
Step 5
Bake lasagna until top is golden brown in spots, filling is set around edges, and a skewer or toothpick slides easily through center, 25–35 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes before cutting into squares.
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