Vegetarian lazy lasagna

The thing about making lasagna is that you can easily end up with a sink full of dishes afterward. Maybe you need to sauté onions and garlic in a skillet, make a béchamel, and boil your noodles beforehand. Or--maybe you can be lazy like me!

I learned a great trick from the New York Times that turns any lasagna noodles into no-cook noodles. Simply pour boiling water over dry lasagna noodles and let sit for a few minutes. Then you can simply layer them in your baking dish and carry on. They will cook in the oven, soaking up the flavors of the dish and resulting in perfectly al dente pasta. 

Keeping this dish lazy and streamlined, I don't make a béchamel or sauté anything. I just mix up the filling of thawed spinach, cheeses, and herbs in a bowl. The marinara sauce is spooned directly from a jar. Layer up the ingredients, enjoy a delicious lasagna, and revel in the fact that you didn't dirty a million dishes.  

Years ago, I saw Cook's Illustrated's claim that cottage cheese is better in baked pasta dishes than ricotta, and I didn't believe it for a long time. When I finally tried it for myself, I was convinced. Instead of the sometimes mealy, dry, and pasty ricotta, the cottage cheese stayed creamy and melted a bit like mozzarella cheese. 

Lazy vegetarian lasagna 

1 lb dry lasagna noodles (about 18 sheets)

24 oz jar marinara sauce

12 ounces (about 3 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese

Filling mixture:
16 oz thawed frozen chopped spinach
16 ounces cottage cheese (I used low-fat)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan (3 ounces)
1 t Italian seasoning
1 t garlic powder
3/4 t salt
black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

Instructions
Boil about 1.5 quarts of water in a kettle or on the stovetop. Lay out dried lasagna noodles in a rectangular pan or baking dish. Once water is boiling, pour over noodles and allow to sit while preparing the rest of the dish, about 15 minutes. It helps to shuffle the pasta around once in the first 5 minutes to keep it from sticking.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease or spray a 13 x 9 baking pan. 

In a large bowl, stir together all filling mixture ingredients.

Here's a rundown of how you will layer the ingredients:

1. Spread about 1/4 cup marinara on the bottom of the 13 x 9 pan
2. Lightly drain the soaking water from the noodles. Lay about a third of the noodles (about 6) on top of the marinara in a single layer, tearing some to fit if needed.
3. Spread about half of the spinach mixture

4. Pour about half of the remaining marinara sauce

5. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the mozzarella

6. Next, layer another third of the noodles (about 6)
7. Spread the remaining half of the spinach mixture

8. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the mozzarella

9. Next, layer another third of the noodles (about 6)

10. Pour about half of the remaining marinara sauce

11. Sprinkle with the remaining third of mozzarella

Once assembled, cover with foil and bake 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes after removing from oven.