Copycat LifeScript’s Caramelized Onion Lasagna

This is an unusual lasagna no spaghetti sauce, tomatoes or ground beef. It filled with mushrooms, onions, spinach and Gorgonzola or goat cheese. Serves 9 Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients:

8 oz lasagna noodles

Caramelized onion filling:
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
4 medium portobello mushroom caps, gills removed, diced
1/2 cup red wine
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper, to taste

Spinach and cheese filling:
4 cups baby spinach
2 cups nonfat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt

White sauce and topping:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups low-fat milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 oz Gorgonzola or goat cheese
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

Directions:

Cook noodles not quite al dente, about 2 minutes less than package instructions. Drain; return noodles to pot and cover with cool water.

Onion filling: in a skillet heat the 3 tablespoons of oil over medium heat; add the onions and cook, stirring frequently until golden brown and very soft, about 25 minutes. (If they begin to stick, add water 1/4 cup at a time to release them and prevent burning.) Add the mushrooms and cook, until just beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the wine and salt, continue cooking until almost all of the liquid is absorbed, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in pepper.

Spinach filling: combine all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until smooth.

White sauce: heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium size saucepan over med/high heat. Add the flour and stir until bubbly, about 30 seconds. Gradually whisk in the milk and salt; bring to boil, whisking constantly until sauce has the consistency of thick gravy, about 1 minute. Add the cheese and whisk until melted. Remove from heat. (Sauce will thicken as it sits)

Assemble lasagna: preheat oven to 375F. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. Drain the noodles and spread out on a kitchen towel. Spread 1/2 cup white sauce in the prepared pan. Place a layer of noodles over sauce. Spread 1/2 of the spinach filling over the noodles and top with 1/3rd of the onion filling. Evenly spread 1/2 cup white sauce over the onions. Repeat with another layer of noodles, remaining spinach filling, half the remaining onion filling and half the remaining white sauce. To finish, top with a third layer of noodles, remaining onion filling and spread on the remaining white sauce. Sprinkle with walnuts and basil. Bake until hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes before serving. Yum Yum!