Recipe Post: Artichoke Lasagna

Ingredients:

• cooking spray

• 9 uncooked lasagna noodles (I have gluten-free ones, so all's good there.)

• 1 onion, chopped (Check.)

• 4 cloves garlic, chopped (There's some kind of garlic somewhere.)
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can vegetable broth (Broth...I should have some in my bag from Florida)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (First snag, no rosemary. But I'll just use thyme instead.)

• 1 (14 ounce) can marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (Got the artichoke!)
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry (No spinach....but that's not something to cry over. Haha)

• 1 (28 ounce) jar tomato pasta sauce (There happens to be homemade sauce in the fridge....score!)
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided (There's mozzarella cheese, as well as some other kind)

• 1 (4 ounce) package herb and garlic feta, crumbled

So I had an ingredient list that is almost like the original. Everything is good so far.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Artichoke-Spinach-Lasagna/Detail.aspx

The directions, as on the website.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium-high. Saute onion and garlic for 3 minutes, or until onion is tender-crisp. Stir in broth and rosemary; bring to a boil. Stir in artichoke hearts and spinach; reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in pasta sauce.
4. Spread 1/4 of the artichoke mixture in the bottom of the prepared baking dish; top with 3 cooked noodles. Sprinkle 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese over noodles. Repeat layers 2 more times, ending with artichoke mixture and mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle crumbled feta on top.
5. Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover, and bake 15 minutes more, or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

I started by filling up a pot with water and sprinkling salt in it. I put it on the back burner on high. Easy enough. I then thought that since this would take a little bit on time, I could start sauteing the onions and garlic. So, I sprayed the pan and began heating it up while I cut the onion. Everything is going according to plan. I looked in the drawer and saw only half a clove of garlic. Hmph. No biggy, I had some garlic powder. I estimated. I figured that it was more concentrated. I throw them all in the pan. While that began to cook, I went to take out the broth to measure. I see that instead of broth, I have stock. I don't know what the exact difference is, other than the statement about the lesser amount of sodium on the cartoon. I measure out the 14/15 ounces and begin to chop the artichoke hearts, while stirring the onion and garlic mixture. I added the stock and thyme,

brought it to a boil and dumped the artichoke hearts in, and turn the heat down and cover. I then realized that I didn't turn on the oven, so I do so. Meanwhile, the pot has finally come to a boil so I threw the noodles in.

I look to see what is next on the list. "Stir in pasta sauce." Shit, I think. I forgot to defrost it. I take 4 8oz Tupperware containers of sauce out of the freezer and through them in the microwave, while setting the time on the oven to 5 minutes (the amount of time the skillet has to simmer). During the little time I have, I take the cheese out and notice that one container is past its "use by" date. No problem, I just used cheddar cheese instead. At this time, the 5 minute simmer is up. I open the microwave. The sauce is not completely defrosted. I went to take them out, and I end up spilling some in the microwave. Wonderful. I'll clean that up after. I threw them in the skillet anyway, and hoped

that the mixture will melt the rest of the sauce. I re-cover the skillet, hoping to defrost the rest.

I drained the noodles in the meantime, and after seeing how hot they are, I rinsed them with water. Of course, there is no room to put anything, so I kept throwing things into the sink and garbage to make room. The sauce has defrosted and so I put a layer at the bottom. Of course, I can't figure out how much I should put, so I poured enough to cover the bottom and then some. Put 3 noodles down, covered with a handful of cheese. Another layer of mixture, noodles cheese. Not much mixture left, so I put most of the rest of the sauce on, noodles, and a good amount of cheese and sprinkled the rest of the mixture on top.

I covered it with foil and put it in the oven. Set for 40 minutes.

I'm not eating it until tomorrow, but it should taste good. I mean, it's mostly tomato sauce, noodles, cheese, with some artichokes.

Out of the oven: