It’s Christmas week and I have a yummy cheesy pasta recipe to share with you today. Seriously, who doesn’t need cheese filled lasagna for Christmas. Apparently a lot of my friends do since after chatting with them about their menu for Christmas, lasagna happens to be a winner! So it’s clearly the right thing to do
. Who doesn’t love lasagna? I espeically love my version since spinach is involved, and it’s gluten free, so it’s kind of health’ish. It’s Christmas right!
Right, right, RIGHT!
Let’s chat about this lasagna. I made this for my dear friend’s Sarah’s dinner party where a few of us like minded girlfriends gathered to have some fun and chat about our goals for the upcoming year. What a great way to spend the night. Eating yummy food, sipping on some wine, and talking about life. And my lasagna was a big hit with several requests for the recipe! Hence, this nice post.
Do you have any favorite Christmas Recipes? Apparently lasagna is one of them so I am hoping you’ll try my version this year! Yes, the traditional meat based lasagna is most popular, but I just have to tell you all about this here Christmas Crispy Prosciutto Cheesy White Lasagna. I mean, what is not to love…crispy prosciutto on top…okok, the cheese ain’t so bad either
. So if you have a large family, “can I make a suggestion please?”…Make your favorite traditional meat based lasagna, but do make this one too! Its’ exactly what I do. I keep the meat one very classic, and I always have fun with the white one. The white lasagna is all about me…sorry, but trust me, even my picky eaters in our family loved this one. Thankfully they have learned to trust all my quirky healthy eating. There was one year however, I used a little too much feta in a white lasagna. I get reminded of it every year, thanks to my brothers. All in fun of course
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That’s not the only thing they wonder about me, but I give up explaining why I run marathons. Yes they’re painful, but what can I say, I love to run. Every time I finish one, good or bad, a tear or two is shed. I am blessed I can still run and although I am not sure of my plans for 2017, it will definitely include a destination marathon once again.
So while every year I run a marathon, I also love to experiment with healthy recipes and creating a new white lasagna has also become a tradition. I’m currently loving this year’s version. Why? Because I love cheese and and this one is extra, extra cheesy! Plus this creamy Béchamel sauce is layered with spinach, ricotta, lots of cheese, and then topped with prosciutto, another one of my favorites! The Prosciutto gets extra crispy too as it bakes. You can even stick it under the broiler a minute to finish it off. YUM!
- 8 tablespoons Coconut Ghee or Butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cups milk (I used 2%)
- 2 cups bone broth or chicken broth
- 1 cup fresh mozzarella balls or grated
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 cups (16oz) whole milk ricotta
- 2 cups shredded provolone
- 1 large clam shell of fresh spinach
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 box gluten free no-boil lasagna noodles
- 3 ounces prosciutto, torn
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan.
- Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan. Add the garlic, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper and cook 30 seconds or until fragrant. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute. Slowly add the milk and broth. Bring to a boil and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the mozzarella balls and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is fully melted and the sauce is smooth. Set the cheese sauce aside.
- Sauté the diced onion in about 1 tablespoon of ghee or olive oil. Add the fresh spinach and let wilt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine the ricotta, provolone and spinach/onion.
- Spread 1/4 of the cheese sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with 3-4 lasagna sheets. Spread with 1/2 the ricotta cheese mixture and then another 1/4 of the cheese sauce. Place another 3-4 lasagna noodles on top and then top with the remaining ricotta cheese mixture and another 1/4 of the cheese sauce. Add the remaining lasagna noodles and pour the remaining cheese sauce over top. Top with a 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Arrange the prosciutto on top. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until the top has bubbled up and browned a bit. Let stand 20 minutes before serving.
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