Spinach Lasagna

I've decided that The New Best Recipe cookbook (it's from the editors of Cook's Illustrated so you know it's fancy) does Italian just right. I made this over the weekend for some family and I've been eating leftovers for lunch since then.

I don't think this recipe could get better (although I do have notes throughout it without slight changes I made that made it faster and cheaper). So even though this is going to take me an hour to type up, I feel I owe it to this noble recipe.

Spinach Lasagna

The New Best Recipe 2004

Serves 6 to 8

SPINACH

1 tablespoon salt

2 (10-ounce) bags curly-spinach, stemmed and rinsed

BECHAMEL

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

5 large shallots; minced (about 1 cup)

4 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (generous 1 tablespoon)

1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

3-1/2 cups whole milk

2 bay leaves

3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg or 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 ounce Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (1/2 cup)

CHEESES AND PASTA

8 ounces whole-milk cottage cheese

1 large egg

1/4 teaspoon salt

12 no-boil lasagna noodles from 1 box

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 ounces Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (1 cup)

8 ounces Italian fontina cheese, shredded (2 cups) (*Heading of recipe says that you can substitute whole-milk mozzarella cheese for fontina which I did and the flavor was still amazing.)

1. FOR THE SPINACH: Fill a large bowl with ice water. Bring 4 quarts water to a rolling boil in a large Dutch oven or stock pot over high heat; add the salt and spinach, stirring until the spinach is just wilted, about 5 seconds. Using a skimmer or fine-mesh strainer, transfer the spinach to the ice water and let stand until completely cool, about 1 minute, then drain the spinach and transfer to a clean kitchen towel. Wrap the towel rightly around the spinach to form a ball and wring until dry. Chop the spinach medium and set aside. (*I just used two bags frozen chopped spinach and boiled on stove and wrung dry.)

2. FOR THE BECHAMEL: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until foaming; add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the shallots are translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 1-1/2 minutes; do not brown. Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Whisk in the bay leaves, nutmeg, salt, and pepper; reduce the heat to low and simmer 10 minutes, whisking occasionally. Whisk in the Parmesan and discard the bay leaves. Transfer the sauce to a bowl, press a piece of plastic wrap directly against the surface, and set aside. (*I didn't have shallots on hand or bay leaves, and I only used a dash of nutmeg as this book seems to be a little nutmeg-happy at times.)

3. FOR THE CHEESE, PASTA, AND ASSEMBLY: Blend the cottage cheese, egg, and salt in a food processor or blender until very smooth, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Adjust an oven rack tot he middle position and heat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the noodles in a 13 by 9-inch broiler-safe baking dish and cover with hot water; let soak 5 minutes, agitating the noodles occasionally to prevent sticking. Remove the noodles form the water and place in a single layer on a clean kitchen towel. (*I used regular lasagna noodles and boiled as directed on the package.) Wipe the baking dish dry and coat with the butter.

Use a rubber spatula to spread 1/2 cup of the becahmel over the bottom of the baking dish; position 3 noodles on the top of the sauce. Stir the spinach into the remaining bechamel in the bowl, mixing well to break up the clumps of spinach (you should have about 4 cups spinach-bechamel mixture). Spread 1 cup of the spinach mixture evenly over the noodles, sprinkle evenly with the Parmesan, and top with 3 more noodles. Spread 1 cup spinach mixture evenly over the noodles, sprinkle evenly with 1 cup of the fontina (or mozzarella) and top with 3 more noodles. Spread 1 cup spinach mixture evenly over the noodles, followed by the cottage cheese mixture. Finish with the remaining 3 noodles, the remaining 1 cup spinach mixture, and the remaining 1 cup fontina.

Lightly spray a large sheet of foil with nonstick cooking spray and cover the lasagna. Bake until bubbling, about 20 minutes, then remove the foil. Remove the lasagna and adjust the oven rack to the uppermost position (about 6 inches from the heating element) and heat the broiler. Broil the lasagna until the cheese is spotty brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Cool 10 minutes, then cut into pieces and serve.