Lasagna

Lasagne /Lasagna is an Italian pasta dish which uses flat sheets of pasta layered with vegetables, meats and various types of sauce with ricotta and mozzarella cheese and baked and served like a square piece of pie. This recipe looks like a lot of cheese, but when it comes to Italian dishes it's all about portion control,the following recipe serves 4 people and when broken down amounts to 345 calories a piece. It is ofcourse higher in fat than carbohydrates and protein and hence suitable amount of protein  and vegetable should be served along with lasagna to make a balanced dish.

Preparation Time: 1 hour

Serves:4

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/3 cup diced onion

8  diced mushrooms

4 sheets lasagna noodles

1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce/marinara sauce

8 ounces ricotta cheese, part-skim

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 teaspoon pesto

salt to taste

black pepper powder to taste

Fresh herbs like basil or oregano(as per your choice)

Procedure:

1.Heat olive oil in a pan and saute the mushroom and onion until soft(3-4 minutes).

2.In a separate pan bring water to a boil,add salt and add the lasagna sheets and cook them according to package directions. Drain the water and keep aside.

3.Add pesto and spaghetti sauce to the mushroom onion mixture and mix.Check salt,add crushed red pepper flakes for spice.The sauce should not be watery,so  let it cook until it comes together and water evaporates.Turn off the stove.

4.Lay a layer of sauce in a  square baking dish.

5.Lay the lasagna noodles

6.Add the ricotta cheese layer.

7.Add the mushroom sauce layer.

8.Repeat steps 5-7 and finish off with a layer of mozarella cheese.

9.Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

Tips:
You can also add zucchini,eggplant,peppers etc to your lasagna.
Meat lovers can add any kind of ground meat to this dish by cooking it in the sauce.