Kale Pesto Lasagna
Kale Pesto Lasagna is a delicious way to add some healthy greens into your family’s diet. Kale pesto cooks with plenty of cheese, noodles and garlic for some serious comfort food.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
Scale
KALE PESTO INGREDIENTS
- 4 cups tightly packed kale leaves, stems removed
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted
- generous pinch red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
OTHER LASAGNA INGREDIENTS
- 2 lbs low fat ricotta cheese
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 cups of greens such as kale, dandelion or mizuna greens, stemmed and chopped.
- ¾ cup Parmesan cheese, divided
- salt/pepper to taste
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
- 1 package no cook lasagna noodles — or cooked traditional noodles, see notes for more information.
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Make the kale pesto: Add the kale and garlic to a food processor, coarsely chopping to create enough room for the other ingredients. Next add the pumpkin seeds, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, cheese, and olive oil, and puree until it comes to a nice smooth consistency. Set the pesto aside.
- Pre-heat oven to 350.
- Mix the ricotta: Empty the ricotta cheese into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the greens, 1 cup kale pesto, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the 4 cloves of minced garlic, and the pumpkin seeds.
- First noodle layer: Spray a deep baking dish with oil spray. Place a layer of noodles on the bottom of the pan. If using no bake noodles, break up the noodles to fill open spaces around the bottom of the pan.
- Add ricotta and cheese: Spread half of the the ricotta mixture over the noodles. The noodles should be all covered with the cheese. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella over the top of the ricotta mixture.
- 2nd layer: Add a layer of noodles over the cheese to cover it. Spread the remaining ricotta mixture over this 2nd layer of noodles, then sprinkle the remaining mozzarella over the the ricotta.
- Finish lasagna prep: Cover the cheese with a final layer of noodles. Spread the remaining pesto across the noodles, trying to get a bit of pesto on as much of the noodles as you can. This helps the noodles to come out softer. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese over the top of the pesto.
- Bake the lasagna: Cover the lasagna and place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for another 20 minutes. Check after about 10 minutes of baking uncovered, you want the top to brown a bit, put the cover back on if it looks like it is browned enough for your liking.
- Serve and enjoy: Remove lasagna from the oven after 50 minutes total cooking time and serve nice and hot.
Notes
- I buy an 8 oz package of mozzarella cheese for this recipe, but you will have some leftover after using 1 cup.
- If using traditional lasagna noodles that need to be boiled, get the noodles cooking as you make the kale pesto and prepare the ricotta mixture. Rinse the cooked noodles in cold water and drain thoroughly to minimize the noodles clinging together.
- If you are using the no boil noodles, you need to break them into shapes to fit the contours of your pan and cover the open spots. Also, be sure to cover the top layer of noodles with enough sauce so the noodles come out moist rather than crispy.
- You probably won’t need the whole package of no boil lasagna noodles.
Find it online: https://cookingchatfood.com/kale-pesto-lasagna/
