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Saturday, December 3, 2011

Mushroom-Spinach Lasagna, Part 2

Oh my, lasagna corner piece heaven!

Remember the last lasagna I prepped? It was that Mushroom-Spinach Lasagna back in October about 1.5 months ago. I baked half then and stuck the other half in the freezer. Now it's all about that other half.

6:00 Thursday night, I pulled this covered dish from the freezer.


After popping the lid off the glass 8x8 dish, I peeked past the plastic wrap. It looks like something I picked up from the frozen section of the grocery store. The dish went into the fridge to thaw out.
 

2:30 Saturday afternoon, I pulled the same lasagna from the refrigerator and figured it was thawed enough -- maybe completely thawed. It sat out on the countertop for 30 minutes. Meanwhile I preheated the oven to 350°F.


The plastic wrap was removed and the thawed lasagna placed in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until browned.


After cooling for 10 minutes allowing the lasagna to set, it was quartered and a portion served. Note that each piece is a corner! I swoon.


Take a quarter of this lasagna and rejoice in it's delicious corner-piece-ed-ness.

And it's cheesy, mushroomy, spinachy goodness.


I am astounded by how fabulously this lasagna turned out. While it baked a little differently than the first time, not quite as even browning, no bubbling toward end of browning, it tasted just as great as the first one did in October.

This is one of those tricks to keep in the mental-note files, particularly for those singles and couples out there. It's really true you can divide a lasagna into two 8x8's, bake one today and bake another a later day, rather than make a giant 9x13 and going through the (ok, fairly minimal hassle) of wrapping individual baked pieces to reheat later.

Additionally, it confirms to me that you really can freeze a whole lasagna and bake it another day. I've read many times from various places that preparing two lasagnas (9x13" each) isn't too much more difficult than prepping one, so plan to make one to bake today and another one to freeze for later. I'll keep this in mind for things like potlucks, family get-togethers and that sort of "bring a dish" deals.

The recipe source says the frozen lasagna is good in the freezer for two months. I wonder if the limits on that can be lengthened. Anyone interested in subsequent trials?

Click here for the recipe, play-by-play execution, and cost.


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