Garlicky Spinach Lasagna

Yum-O! From Rachael Ray. I thought this was rather good. Jon and Evan had seconds. Martina really wasn't into it, but that's OK--she's picky.
I used a little less spinach because I didn't see a need to buy more than one large-size bag, so I had only about 1 lb.
To lighten it, I used no-yolk egg noodles, skim milk in the sauce, light pesto, only 4 oz goat cheese, and whole wheat bread crumbs.

It's a long recipe--to streamline it, I filled the pot with water (instead of using only 2 inches), dumped in all the spinach, then fished it out and boiled the pasta in the spinach water. I used onions instead of shallots in the sauce, to use what I had on hand.

Because of the messed-up flash on the camera, my picture is blurry. I will attempt to take a pic of the leftovers with a different camera.

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 lbs. baby spinach
* 4 tbsp. butter
* 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
* Salt and pepper
* 8 oz. wide egg noodles
* 2 cups Creamy White Sauce (see recipe below)
* 6 oz. fresh goat cheese
* 4 tbsp. prepared pesto
* 1 1/2 cups coarse fresh breadcrumbs
* 2 tbsp. EVOO

Directions:

1.

In a large saucepan, bring 2 inches water to a simmer. Add the spinach in batches, stirring until wilted; cook until all of it is tender. Drain and let cool. Squeeze out excess moisture and chop.
2.

In a large skillet, melt 2 tbsp. butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir until golden, about 1 minute. Stir in the spinach. Season lightly with salt and pepper; remove from the heat.
3.

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a large saucepan of boiling, salted water, cook the noodles, stirring often, until al dente. Drain— but do not rinse—and return to the saucepan. Stir in the white sauce to coat.
4.

Lightly grease an 8-inch square glass baking dish. Layer in half of the noodles and press with a spatula. Dot with half of the goat cheese, spread the spinach on top and press down. Stir 3 tbsp. pesto into the remaining noodles and spoon over the spinach. Dot with the remaining cheese. Cover snugly with foil and bake until hot and bubbling, about 35 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes.
5.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt the remaining 2 tbsp. butter over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and cook, stirring, until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Combine the remaining 1 tbsp. pesto with the EVOO. Drizzle the lasagna with the pesto oil and sprinkle with the crumbs.


Creamy White Sauce
Ingredients

* 2 tbsp. butter
* 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
* 1/4 cup flour
* 2 cups milk, warmed
* 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
* Salt and pepper

Directions:

1.

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in warm milk; bring to boil and cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan and 1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper.