Spinach Lasagna

  I decided to make a meatless lasagna for the first Lenten Friday, and I found this recipe for Spinach Lasagna in the The New Best Recipe cookbook by Cook's Illustrated.    I tried to be as true to the recipe as possible to get the best results that the book promised.   It was somewhat time-consuming to get through all the instructions, but definitely worth the effort.  This was one of the best recipes I've made so far, in my opinion.   The only changes I made was that I used regular fresh spinach instead of curly leaf spinach, simply because I couldn't find the latter in the store.  And I used a block of Wisconsin-made fontina cheese instead of Italian fontina.    It was rich and creamy and a suburb dish that I would definitely make again.  Also, not to brag, but my photo looks WAY more appetizing than the photo by Cook's Illustrated, don't you think?!  See their photo

Spinach Lasagna  (2013 Cookbook Challenge)
from The New Best Recipe cookbook
Serves 6 to 8

Spinach:
2 bags (10 oz each) curly spinach, stemmed
1 tablespoon salt

Béchamel:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup minced shallots (~4 large shallots)
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3&1/2 cups whole milk
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 

Lasagna Layers:
8 ounces whole-milk cottage cheese
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 no-boil lasagna noodles (1 box)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (2 oz block)
2 cups shredded Italian fontina cheese (8 oz block)

Directions:
Blanch & Shock the Spinach:
Bring 4 quarts water to a rolling boil in a large stockpot over high heat.  Add the salt and spinach, stirring until the spinach is just wilted, only 5 seconds.  Using a mesh strainer, transfer the spinach to a large bowl filled with ice water and let stand until completely cool, about a minute.  Drain spinach and transfer to a clean kitchen towel.  Wrap the towel tightly around the spinach and wring until dry.  Chop the spinach and set aside.

For the Béchamel:
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 90 seconds; 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 for 10 minutes, whisking occasionally.  Whisk in the Parmesan cheese and discard the bay leaves.  Transfer sauce to a bowl and press a piece of plastic wrap directly against the surface; set aside.

For the Layers:
Blend the cottage cheese, egg, and salt in a food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds.  Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Place no-boil noodles in a 13x9 broiler-safe baking dish and cover with hot tap water;  let soak 5 minutes.  Remove noodles from water and place in a single layer on paper towels.  Drain and wipe dish dry.

Coat baking dish with butter.  Spread 1/2 cup of the béchamel over the bottom of the baking dish.  Position 3 noodles on top of the sauce.  Stir the spinach into the remaining béchamel in the bowl.  Spread 1 cup of the spinach-béchamel mixture evenly over the noodles, sprinkle evenly with the Parmesan, and top with 3 more noodles.  Spread 1 cup spinach mixture over noodles, sprinkle evenly with 1 cup of the shredded fontina, and top with 3 more noodles.  Spread 1 cup spinach mixture over the noodles, followed by the cottage cheese mixture.  Finish with the remaining 3 noodles, remaining 1 cup spinach mixture, and remaining 1 cup fontina.

Preheat the oven to 425º with the oven rack adjusted to the middle position.   Cover the lasagna with aluminum foil and bake until bubbling, about 20 minutes.  Remove the foil, adjust rack to upper position, and broil lasagna for 4-6 minutes until cheese is spotty brown.  Cool 10 minutes, then cut into pieces and serve.  Enjoy!