Ingredients
12 sundried tomatoes, chopped
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), divided
1 medium onion, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated, divided
A pinch of dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 can San Marzano whole plum tomatoes (28 ounces)
1/4 cup fresh basil (about a handful), torn
8 roasted red peppers (in a jar or from an olive bar), pureed in a food processor
2 pounds spinach, trimmed of thick stems
2 cups pine nuts, toasted
1 container part-skim or whole milk ricotta cheese (32 ounces)
2 eggs
1 box oven-ready lasagna noodles
1 cup shredded provolone cheese (2 generous handfuls)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (a generous handful)
Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 375ºF.
Reconstitute the sundried tomatoes by placing them into a small bowl and pouring hot water over them. Let them sit while you prepare the sauce.
Place a medium size saucepot over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of EVOO, about two turns of the pan. Add the onion, three cloves of garlic and oregano to the pot and cook until the veggies begin to soften, 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Add in the San Marzano tomatoes and basil, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of a spoon or a potato masher. Reduce the heat to medium and allow the sauce to come up to a bubble.
Drain the water from the reconstituted sundried tomatoes and roughly chop them up. Add the chopped tomatoes and pureed roasted peppers to the sauce. Simmer the sauce until it thickens up, 7-8 minutes.
While the sauce is simmering, make a spinach pesto by adding the spinach, pine nuts and the remaining three cloves of garlic to the bowl of a food processor. Pour in a couple of tablespoons of EVOO and pulse the machine until everything is chopped up. Transfer the pesto to a mixing bowl and mix in the rest of the remaining 2/3 cup EVOO. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then stir in the ricotta cheese and eggs and reserve.
Assemble the lasagna by ladling a small amount (about 1/2 cup, just eyeball it) of the red sauce into the bottom of a 13-inch x 9-inch baking dish. Top the red sauce with three lasagna noodles and cover those with half of the spinach pesto mixture. Top the spinach pesto with three more lasagna noodles, then ladle half of the remaining red sauce on top of that. Cover that layer with three more noodles and top them off with the remaining spinach pesto. Place your last three noodles over that layer and spoon the remaining red sauce over the top. Sprinkle the cheeses on top and cover the pan with foil.
Bake the lasagna for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake 15 minutes more until the cheese is bubbly and melted. This is one of many "Yum-o!" recipes – it's good and good for you. To find out more about Yum-o!, Rachael's nonprofit organization, go to www.yum-o.org.