Layers of garlicky cheesy goodness in this easier no boil lasagna with ricotta recipe. We’re saving on prep time by not pre boiling the noodles, and instead baking them from dry noodles right in the lasagna. This vegetarian spinach mushroom lasagna feeds a small crowd and leftovers freeze with ease! This recipe is vegetarian and easily gluten free. [ see recipe VIDEO on recipe card below ]
To Boil or Not to Boil?
I used to hardly ever make lasagna. Boiling the lasagna noodles added too much time to the whole affair, and this coming from someone who loves to be in the kitchen! My resistance was long before no boil lasagna noodles were even heard of.
Funny thing, though, I was always confused about if I had to buy “no boil” labeled noodles or if I could just cook the dry noodles in the lasagna with a little recipe tweaking. But with practice making lots of veggie lasagnas, I learned how to cut this extra step out and save a bit of time while making time intensive homemade lasagna.
This lasagna with ricotta recipe works without boiling the noodles. You can use gluten free or gluten full noodles! See my recommendations below.
The Best Gluten Free Lasagna Noodles
Since I ate gluten free for a trial period, I’ve tried both gluten free and gluten full lasagna noodles in this spinach mushroom lasagna recipe. These are my favorites:
- Tinkyada Organic Brown Rice Pasta Lasagne: dry noodles
- Jovial Foods Organic Gluten Free Brown Rice Lasagna: dry noodles
- Bionaturae: Organic Durum Semolina Lasagne: dry noodles
I’ve found the texture of brown rice lasagna to be appealing and similar to gluten filled pasta. However, one issue I’ve experienced with dry gluten free lasagna is the sheets tend break easily in the box.
When this occurs, I simply piece them back together while assembling the lasagna (see below). When purchased at the grocery store, there seems to be less breakage.
If your lasagna noodles don’t fit exactly in the pan, you can overlap the edges as needed or snap the lasagna noodles to the size you need
Make Lasagna Without Boiling the Noodles
It’s much easier than boiling the noodles before assembling the lasagna, but there must be enough moisture in the sauce to cook the noodles. Here is how I do it:
- add just a little bit of water to the sauce.
- cover the lasagna and bake it for 45-55 minutes, then bake it uncovered for an additional 10-15 minutes.
Adding water to the sauce and covering the pan ensures the noodles have enough moisture to cook until tender. During the last 10-15 minutes of uncovered baking and also 10 minutes of rest time out of the oven allows excess moisture to steam off.
At a Glance: How to Make Vegetarian Spinach Mushroom Ricotta Lasagna
- First, sear the mushrooms in a bit of oil. Add the shallots and garlic, then the tomato sauce, paste and water.
- Meanwhile, mix the ricotta, feta and pesto.
- Next, squeeze out the water from the thawed spinach.
- Assemble: in a 9 inch deep square pan or baker, layer the marinara, noodles, cheeses and spinach.
- Finish the top of this pesto lasagna with a layer of mozzarella, feta, parmesan, red pepper flakes and dried oregano.
- Finally bake until bubbly around the edges and the cheese is melted and golden.
Allow the lasagna to rest about 10 minutes before serving.
Traci’s Tips
- For this mushroom and spinach lasagna recipe, I use a deep, 9″ square pan. You can use a 13″x9″ pan, but instead of three layers, you’ll have two.
- Because pasta can vary in cook time, I start checking the lasagna noodles for doneness after baking the covered lasagna for about 45 minutes. A sharp knife inserted in the center of the lasagna should yield to gentle pressure when the noodles are done. This is when the foil can be removed.
Spinach-Mushroom Pesto Ricotta Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 14 ounces (400 grams) Mixed Mushrooms like Crimini and Button Top brush clean and remove stems, slice
- 1/3 cup (40 grams) Shallots minced, about one small
- 1 1/2 tablespoon Minced Garlic divided
- 4 tablespoons Tomato Paste
- 2, (24 ounces / 680 grams each) Jars of Pasta Sauce
- 1/2 cup (130 grams) Water
- 1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes divided
- 1/2 + 1/4 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt divided
- 2 cups (16 ounces /453 grams) Ricotta I like whole milk Ricotta Con Latte
- 1/2 cup (125 grams) Pesto I use homemade spinach basil pesto or basil pesto
- 1/2 cup (110 grams) Mediterranean Feta crumbled fine, divided
- 2 10 ounces (566 grams) each Packages of Chopped Frozen Spinach thawed
- 9 ounces (280 grams) Dry Lasagna Noodles gluten free or gluten full, see blog post for recommendations. you'll need approx. 12 sheets
- 2 cups (225 grams) Shredded Mozzarella Blend divided
- 1/4 cup (36 grams) Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1 teaspoon Oregano dried
- Fresh Basil or Parsley and Fresh Ground Pepper for garnish
Instructions
- In a large saute pan add the olive oil and bring it to shimmering on medium heat. Add the mushrooms and allow to sear, stirring only occasionally for 7-8 minutes. Adjust heat to medium low as needed. Stir in the shallots, 1/2 Tbs of garlic and tomato paste. Cook on low for one minute. Stir in the pasta sauce, water, 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes and 1/2 tsp salt. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat. Taste for salt adjustment and add more if needed. Set aside.
- For the Ricotta Mixture: In a medium mixing bowl, add the ricotta, pesto, 1/4 C (55g) feta, 1 Tbs garlic, a generous few grinds of fresh ground pepper and 1/4 tsp sea salt. Stir thoroughly to incorporate. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a strainer, press out as much liquid as possible in the spinach. Use a tea towel to give it a final squeeze or two. It should be very dry. Set oven rack in the center and preheat oven to 400F (204C)
To Assemble:
- In a 9"x9"x2 1/4" baking pan: a) Spoon in about 1 C of sauce, just to cover the bottom of the pan. Fish out any mushrooms and put them back in the with the tomato sauce so that the base of the lasagna layers lay flat. b) On top of the sauce, layer 4 uncooked lasagna noodles, snapping an end off to fit (if needed). If any noodles are broken, simply piece them together in position the best you can. c) Smooth 1/3 of the ricotta mixture on top of the uncooked lasagna noodles. d) Evenly dot 1/3 of the spinach over the top of the ricotta. e) Sprinkle 1/4 C of the shredded Mozzarella blend over the spinach. f) Over the mozzarella, spread about 1/3 of the of the remaining pasta sauce. Repeat steps b-f two more times, finishing the top with the remaining mozzarella, feta, parmesan, a pinch of dried oregano and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes. The baker will be full.
To Bake:
- Tent a large piece of foil over the pan, making sure that the edges are sealed. If the foil touches the top of the lasagna it will stick so make sure the foil isn't touching the lasagna. Set the pan on a parchment lined sheet pan to catch any sauce that may spill over. Bake the lasagna at 400F (204C) for 45-55 minutes. Depending on type of noodle used (gluten free or not), bake time can vary. I start checking my lasagna at 45 minutes by gently pulling back the foil (be careful, it will be steamy!) and inserting a knife in the center. You're testing to see of the noodles are tender. If a sharp knife gives under gentle pressure, the noodles are done and you can move on to removing the foil. If the pasta doesn't give way to gentle pressure, the lasagna needs more time under the foil. Give it 5-10 more minutes. Reseal the foil being careful to tent it so that the cheese doesn't stick. Just do your best.When you're satisfied that the noodles are about done, remove the foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the lasagna is bubbly, and cheese on top is melty and golden. Darker edges are okay. Remove from oven and let stand at least 10-15 minutes before slicing and sharing. Run a knife around the edges of the lasagna to ease the edges, then cut into nine pieces.
- Serve with more parmesan, pepper flakes, fresh parsley or basil and fresh ground pepper.
- Cool completely before freezing. I freeze in individual cut pieces in a lidded container for easy dinners or in individual lunch portions. Thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat in a 350F oven for about 15 minutes.
Can I make and assemble lasagna the day before & refrigerate then bake the next day?
Hi Veronica! I’ve not tried this approach. If you give it a go, please let us know how it goes!
Delish!!! Followed it exactly, and man is it good! As s matter of fact, all your recipes are a hit in this house, starting with your sour dough bread recipes.
Best news ever, Kristine! Thank you for your note and sending a smile!
Do I double all the ingredients to make a 13 by 9 since I do not own a 9×9 inch lasagna pan? Cooking time?
For this mushroom and spinach lasagna recipe, I use a deep, 9″ square pan. You can use a 13″x9″ pan, but instead of three layers, you’ll have two. I’m thinking the bake time will a bit less.. you can check it with a knife through the noodles, when it meets little resistance. I hope this helps!
Forgot to mention, we didn’t have pesto around so we skipped that part and it was still delicious!
Hiii Monica! Oh my goodness… hooray for the slow cooker! Thank you for your note, five star review and sharing your tip. Looking forward to trying it!
We made this fabulous recipe last night but cooked it in the slow cooker for two hours instead of the oven, worked great! We had some queso fresco on hand so we used that instead of the feta and that was yummy too. Thanks Traci!
Just a quick question, hope you’ll respond quickly as I’m thinking about making this on Friday for company dinner… has anyone tried roasting the mushrooms instead of sautéing them? Roasted mushrooms have a more meatier earthy taste!
Thanks!
Hi Sue! I’ve not read about anyone roasting the mushrooms instead of sautéing for this recipe. If roasting is your preferred method to cooking mushrooms, I’m confident it would work in this recipe. Keep us posted!
Thanks for the speedy response! I’ll give roasting a try!
Terrific! Just made this tonight! Everyone loved it! Made it just like the recipe states. Perfect and delicious!!
SO happy to hear, Stephanie! Thank you for your note and giving the recipe a go!
Good One Tracy… I like Lagiana…. Thanks Much….
Super delicious.
So happy to hear Lewis! Thank you for your note!
Very much looking forward to trying this tonight! Do you think using fresh spinach instead of frozen affect the othe steps?
Hi Hannah! I’ve used fresh spinach in this recipe before, but it requires an extra step. You’ll need two big bunches since it wilts down a great deal. Steam the spinach in a large saute pan until it wilts – about 1-2 minutes. Then, let it cool and squeeze out all the water. Use it as you would the frozen spinach. I hope this helps and you enjoy the recipe!
Lasagna holds a special spot in comfort foods for me as it’s one of my favorite things my Mom used to make. While I’m a ‘shroom lover the rest of my family just can’t quite get on board (though my son is and an excellent forager) but we are fans of your butternut squash and kale lasagna. I may have to try this recipe without the addition of the mushrooms to the sauce. The arctic chill has definitely been calling for a dish like this! Stay warm, Traci!
I LOL at your ‘shroom lover comment. My hubs is not a fan either, so I chop them small and he doesn’t notice. I love that butternut lasagna too! I hope you enjoy this one the same, Jean! Y’all stay warm… they’re calling for snow here on Sunday! :o !!