While I am a fan of lasagna, I rarely ever make it.  I know that my kids aren't too keen on the red sauced varieties, so I came up with this one.  None of the recipes I could find online matched the ingredients I had in my cupboards, so this one I just winged.  It's really the first recipe I've done all on my own.  I think it turned out pretty dang good.  I loved the crispy cheese on top.  My kids aren't too hip on spinach, though they liked the rest of it.  It made for wonderful leftovers for lunch the next day, too!

Ingredients:

• 8-10 ounces spinach, quickly cooked and wilted (I used frozen.  Fresh would be awesome.)
• 1 15-oz package of low-fat ricotta cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• about 3 cups alfredo sauce (The link is to my homemade sauce.  Jarred would be fine, too.)
• 12 lasagna noodles, cooked al dente
• 2 cooked skinless chicken breasts (I broiled mine with a little salt, pepper and garlic powder.)
• extra shredded mozzarella

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F. 
Mix together spinach, ricotta and mozzarella cheeses in a medium bowl.
In a 9x9 pan, pour a very thin layer of Alfredo sauce.  Lay 4 noodles side by side on top, to cover pan.
Spread half of the spinach and cheese mix evenly over the noodles.
Pour about a third of the Alfredo sauce over top.
Lay another layer of noodles, then spinach/cheese mix, then sauce again.
Top with one more layer of noodles.  Pour the remainder of the sauce over top.  Sprinkle with extra mozzarella.
Bake for 45-60 minutes.

Earlier in my blogger postings, I showed you how to make the Artisan Bread  and then just recently was the Alfredo Sauce .    Last night we combined these two with some diced chicken and spinach to make a wonderful pizza.   It was oh-so-yummy.  I couldn't stop eating, and will probably need to spend a couple hours on the treadmill today to make up for it. 


For the bread this time, I used 5 cups white flour and 1&1/2 cups wheat flour, and then threw in about a 1/4 cup of honey.   The dough came out very sticky, but we never got to the point of putting it in the fridge, either, since it was made specifically to make pizza dough. 

Grab a big handful of the dough and form it into the ball as it says.  However, then immediately throw it onto a floured surface and roll it to your desired size for pizza.   Pop it into the oven at 450*F for about 5 minutes to give it a nice little prebake.  You don't have to prebake it, but we like the texture it gives the finished pizza.

Make up the alfredo sauce, and spread over the prebaked (or not-prebaked) pizza.  Sprinkle with mozzarella.  Top with chicken and torn spinach leaves.  Sprinkle with just a little more mozzarella to give a little seal.  Put back in the oven (at the same setting) for another 8 minutes or so.  If you did not prebake the pizza, it may need to be around 10-15 minutes to completely bake the bread.  Keep checking it.  =)

And there you have it.  Delicious pizza.  Of course, you can add whatever toppings you like!   Enjoy!

  A while back I had bought a package of gyoza wrappers.  They had been sitting in my freezer, and I happened upon them while going through looking for something-or-other.   I decided it was high time to use them, since I was currently in supply-o-plenty of cream cheese and spinach.  I already knew what I wanted to do with them- which, if you hadn't guessed- was fill them with cream cheese and spinach.  But, I wanted to bake them instead of fry them.  I hate frying stuff.  It's too greasy for my tummy.

  They turned out fabulous, by the way.  I had actually originally planned to serve them as appetizers during Christmas, but they were so good that my boyfriend and I scarfed them down as our breakfast instead.  A new tradition, maybe?  


Ingredients:

• an 8-oz block of cream cheese
• about 8-oz of spinach (mine was a 10-oz box of frozen, but I didn't use all of it)
• a couple of bunches of green onions, the whole thing chopped
• olive oil
• gyoza wrappers (I'm sure you could easily use wonton wrappers, as well)

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 375*F.
2.   Coat a baking pan (like a cookie sheet) with a very thin layer of olive oil.
3.   Saute spinach over medium heat until just wilted and heated through. 
4.   Combine cream cheese, spinach and green onions in a medium bowl and beat until well-combined.
5.   Place about a teaspoon of cream cheese mixture in the center of gyoza wrapper.  Moisten edges and press together.  Place on oiled sheet.
6.   Once baking sheet is full of gyozas, brush them with another very thin coating of olive oil.   Bake for about 10 minutes, then flip them over and bake for about another 10 minutes.  They should be browned and slightly crisp.

 

I got about 20 or so gyozas from this.  They taste much better when they are still warm, though they are still good when cooled (but still warm.. I can't see them being as tasty cold) as well.  These are super easy to make, and I will definitely whip them up again (and again and again).   If you like to use dipping sauces, you can.  I don't prefer them, so I didn't make one to go with them, so use your best judgement as to what kind of sauce would work with them.  One site suggested rice vinegar and chili garlic sauce.