Pesto Stuffed Lasagna

Ahhhh. I took a nice weekend off with my boys. Hit the woods in Northern AZ. Cold air felt great. Now that I'm refreshed, I have a great idea for Meatless Monday - PESTO STUFFED LASAGNA!

Pesto Stuffed Lasagne

No-boil lasagna noodles shave at least 20 minutes off your prep time because you don’t have to wait for water to boil or pasta to cook.  Plus, they soak up the pesto flavor as they bake in the oven.

15 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese

1 cup prepared pesto sauce, divided

1 large egg, lightly beaten

4 cups part-skim mozzarella cheese (16 ounces)

8-ounce package no-boil lasagna noodles (12 pieces)

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, 1/2 cup of the pesto and egg. Mix well and set aside.

Spread 1/4 cup of the remaining pesto all over the bottom of a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Top with 3 lasagna noodles (the noodles don’t need to touch each other or the sides of the pan because they expand when baked). Top the noodles with 1/3 of the ricotta mixture and spread mixture out evenly over the noodles. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat these steps 2 more times (3 noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, 1 cup mozzarella). End with the last three noodles on top.  Top with the remaining 1/4 cup of pesto and mozzarella cheese.

Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake 10 more minutes, until hot and bubbly.  Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Serves 8