Valentine Owl, Part Deux

The roomie and I went over to the little birthday girl's house to give have dinner with her parents (see recipe below for a yummy twist on lasagna) and to give her the crocheted owl I made for her. After dinner, I told her to go into my green canvas bag and get the pink thing out of it. She proceeded to say, "hoot hoot." and look generally excited about it. Until AArF tipped her off that there was something inside the owl (goldfish crackers). Once she unzipped the owl, she pulled out the crackers, and immediately replaced the owl in my canvas bag. She was thrilled over the crackers, and everyone had a good laugh at my expense.

Kids. Makes me want to have five.

Anyway, here's the recipe from Rachel Ray. Allot more than 30 minutes and serve with a simple green salad. To compliment the lemon found in the ricotta, I served the salad with a quick lemon vinaigrette - (1/2 c lemon juice, 1/4 cup white wine vinegar, 2t. sugar, salt and pepper to taste, and 1 c olive oil).

Spinach Artichoke Ravioli Lasagna

• 1 (10-ounce) packages chopped frozen spinach
• 1/4 stick butter
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 quart milk
• Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
• Salt and pepper
• 3 cups ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 packages large fresh ravioli cheese, wild mushroom or spinach stuffed varieties
• 2 (15-ounce) cans artichoke hearts in water, drained and thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for pasta.

Place oven rack in middle of oven and preheat broiler or oven to 425 degrees F.

Defrost the spinach in the microwave for 10 minutes on high.

While spinach defrosts, heat a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Cut butter into small pieces and melt. Whisk in flour and cook a minute or 2 then whisk in milk. Bring sauce to a bubble, as it begins to thicken, drop heat to low and season it with nutmeg, salt and pepper, to your taste.

Combine ricotta cheese, a little salt and pepper, lemon zest and garlic in a bowl.

Cook pasta to al dente, 5 to 6 minutes in salted water.

Remove spinach from the microwave and wring it completely dry in a kitchen towel. Open the towel and separate the spinach with your fingers. Pile up the sliced artichokes on your cutting board.

Drain pasta well. Do not let pasta sit on top of each other or it will harden into a solid mess! Yes, I nearly learned the hard way. Ladle just enough white sauce in the bottom of a lasagna dish to lightly coat it. Top with 1/3 of the pasta. Top the pasta with a layer of half of the ricotta cheese dotted with half of the spinach and artichokes. Thinly cover the veggies with more white sauce then top liberally with grated cheese. Repeat these layers then top your lasagna with the remaining 1/3 of the cooked ravioli, the last of the white sauce and some grated cheese.

Place under hot broiler or into a preheated 425 degree F oven until sauce browns and bubbles, 3 minutes

Don't skip the nutmeg. It really makes the dish. After ladling the last of the cream sauce over the ravioli, I sprinkled more of it on top. It looks really pretty and gives it a distinctive taste.

Enjoy!
~GAC