Spinach Lasagna featuring Organic Valley Cottage Cheese

Finally...a spinach lasagna that makes the kids ask for leftovers!  I substituted traditional ricotta cheese in the recipe for Organic Valley's cottage cheese because it provides a rich texture & creamy flavor and is a great substitute for ricotta cheese.  Not that I dislike ricotta cheese, but it is one of those items on my grocery list that I always seem to forget.  And since we always have cottage cheese in the house, this worked out perfect:

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (32 ounce) jar Pasta Sauce (I prefer the kinds without big chunks for this recipe)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 cups Organic Valley lowfat cottage cheese
• 1 (8 ounce) package part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 egg
• 8 ounces lasagna noodles

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

• In a medium pot over medium heat cook and stir spinach.  When the spinach has been thawed and cooked, drain excess water from spinach and place back into the pot adding the onion, oregano, basil and garlic in the olive oil.  In a large bowl mix cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and egg.  Cook lasagna noodles according to their package.

• Place a small amount of sauce in the bottom of a lasagna pan. Place 4 cooked noodles on top of sauce and top with a layer of spinach mixture, followed by a layer of cheese mixture. Add 4 more noodles and layer with pasta sauce, spinach mixture, and cheese mixture and repeat until all is layered, finishing with sauce.  If desired, sprinkle some additional cheese on the top.

• Cover with foil and bake in a preheated oven for 55 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.  *helpful hint*  When spreading the mixtures on the lasagna, a rubber spatula seems to work the best.