Ricotta & Spinach Lasagna

As part of an online cooking course I am taking on Science & Cooking offered by Harvard University, I had to make Ricotta at home. It was part of a lab exercise. How I am enjoying this course! It's an introductory course that breaks down the basic science behind cooking. There's a lot of high school physics and chemistry in it that my rusty brain is raking up! It feeds into my curiosity to know the "whys" and "hows" behind cooking. It literally has transformed my kitchen into a science lab, much as I have always thought of it, so it's been a great experience. I know some people don't like to view Cooking as a science, but I believe Cooking is one of the many aspects of our lives in which science and art come together beautifully. One really needs to have a basic understanding of the science to artfully create new dishes and invent new ways of recreating a classic.

Long story short, I had to make ricotta for Lab. Once I had the ricotta, I decided to make lasagna with it. Spinach and ricotta go so well together, so I put together this lasagna with the fresh and yummy ricotta and had fun through the entire experience, including eating.

Making Ricotta:

Just a brief summary on how I learned to make ricotta: I used 2 litres of whole milk (1/2 gallon). You get lots more ricotta than you would get paneer with the same quantity of milk. So 1/2 gallon gave me about 2.5 cups of ricotta. For 1/2 gallon milk, I used 4 tablespoons vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt.

Add salt to milk and continuously stir as you heat the milk. Keep heating and stirring the milk until the temperature reaches 198 F or 92 C. Remove from heat, add vinegar, mix it in quickly and place the milk (with the pan) in a bowl of ice water. Do not stir the milk. Let it sit in the ice-water bath until the temperature lowers to 97 F or 36 C. Then strain the milk through a cheesecloth and let the ricotta drain for 20 minutes to 1 hour. The ricotta was still wet after 1 hour, so I let it drain in the fridge overnight and all the whey had drained the next morning. Do not discard the whey that drains from the ricotta. You can use whey to bake breads and make rotis (substitute water with whey)

It takes time for the temperature of the milk to cool down - it took about 45 minutes. Other than that, the whole process was pretty easy and the ricotta tastes much better than store-bought ones - no surprises there. 

 Ingredients for Lasagna:

1.  2.5 cups prepared ricotta from above
2. 1 package oven ready Lasagna sheets that require no boiling (Barilla's Oven Ready 9 oz. Lasagna sheets are perfect for a 9x13 inch baking dish)
3. 4 cups spinach, chopped
4. 1 medium onion, chopped
5. 2 cups Marinara sauce or Vodka Sauce
6. 2 eggs
7. 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
8. 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
9. 1 teaspoon salt
10. 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
11. 1/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano
12. 1/2 cup bread crumbs
13. Some olive oil

 Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Melt butter in a saucepan. Throw in onions and saute until translucent. 
2. Add spinach and cook for 10 minutes or so until spinach wilts. Remove from heat and let it cool. When cool, drain all the moisture/water and keep aside.
3. In a bowl, mix the ricotta and cooked onion-spinach.
4. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and mix well.
5. Add lightly beaten eggs and mix well. 
6. Coat the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch baking dish with some marinara sauce.
7. Lay out about 4 lasagna sheets (if using the brand I recommended; else lay down a single layer of as many noodles as needed to cover the sauce) on top of the sauce.
8. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta-spinach mixture on top of the first layer of noodles.
9. Spread some of the marinara/vodka sauce on top of the ricotta-spinach mixture
10. Lay out another layer of noodles/lasagna sheets
11. Spread another 1/3 of the ricotta spinach mixture
12. Spread some more sauce on top
13. Repeat with another layer of noodles and finally lay out the last sheet of noodles. Top with a layer of sauce, bread crumbs and Pecorino Romano. Drizzle some olive oil on top.
14. Bake at 350 F for 45-50 minutes until browned at the top and bubbling.

Rest the Lasagna for 10-15 minutes before serving.