The651.com

If you’re anything like me, one of the resolutions on your New Year’s list was vowing to eat and buy more items locally. Not only is it a great way to keep Minnesota sustainable, but it just tastes better. A fun way to familiarize yourself with new local products is to cook one meal a month using as many locally-sourced ingredients as possible. Here’s a tasty recipe has been floating around food blogs recently that’s hearty, quick, and packed with Minnesota-made ingredients easily found at most co-ops (try St. Paul’s own natural foods co-ops, Mississippi Market located on Selby Ave and West 7th). And after the holidays, an easy recipe is most merited. Enjoy!

 Minnesota Local Lasagna:

Ingredients:

1 box of Dakota Grower’s lasagna noodles

For the Sauce:

24 oz. of tomato pasta sauce, try Sunrise Creative Gourmet Sauces from Hibbing, MN
2 cups of seasonally available mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

 For the filling:

24 oz. small curd cottage cheese (try Westby Creamery small curd cottage cheese, ricotta is typical for lasagna but has been harder to source locally)
1 Tbsp. dried local basil
1 Tbsp. dried Italian Seasoning
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 bag of frozen chopped spinach (try frozen organic Sno Pac from Caledonia, MN), rinsed and well-drained
3/4 C. shredded local mozzarella, plus 1/4 C. for topping
1/2 C. finely grated parmesan, plus 1/4 C. more for topping
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste

1. Prepare lasagna noodles according to package directions. Drain noodles well and cool until able to handle them comfortably.
2. Meanwhile, add sauce ingredients to a medium pan and stir. Simmer on medium-low heat until warm, stirring occasionally. The sauce in this case is already cooked, so avoid boiling it again. While the sauce is simmering, combine cottage cheese, seasonings, mozzarella, parmesan, and spinach in a bowl. Add egg and gently mix until filling is combined.
3. When noodles, sauce, and filling are prepared, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and begin to assemble the lasagna. Lightly grease a 9 x 13″ baking dish. Spread 1/4 C. of the sauce on the bottom of the pan to avoid scorching the noodles to the bottom. Add a layer of noodles. Top the noodles with 1/3 of the filling mixture (about 1 1/2 cups). Add another layer of noodles. Top with 1/2 C. of the sauce mixture. Repeat layers in this order until all of the noodles are gone.
4. Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and parmesan. Bake for 45 min-1 hour until sauce and cheese are bubbling.