2 Pounds of Cheesy Goodness

Hola - I'm Heather, Barbara's accomplice-in-cooking. She's given me the opportunity to contribute to her blog cuz she's a good friend (and maybe because she wants to relieve some of the pressure from the gads of readers/followers that expect regular, tongue-drooling entries). She and I share a love of many things, including peanut sauce (I recently discovered this similarity), mushrooms, soba noodles, wine, snowshoeing, Wisconsin, knitting, and lots and lots of cheese.

Since it's Saturday, which means I have more time to cook, I decided to make something that requires a lengthy stay in the kitchen. I've made lasagna before and each time was a special occasion - special in that it took lots of time to make. Tonight's Spinach and Black Bean Lasagna was a different story. Open a can, a jar, a tub, and 30 minutes later it's in the oven with 2 bowls to clean. yowsah.

Cheese. Yes, two whopping pounds of it. This is a Southern Living recipe, so I used whole milk ricotta (a 15 oz tub), and 16 oz of Monterey Jack. I realize this may be blasphemy, but I could have escaped using less monterey jack for the topping. I think.

Rob claimed it was the best lasagna he ever tasted. The best part is that it was very affordable - and no hard-to-find ingredients. After the two of us ate it for dinner, we still have 3/4 of a pan as leftovers.