It was chilly last week, so I was looking for something quick and comforting to throw into the oven for dinner. This lasagna worked out perfectly and it was also a hit with my two vegetarian sons. It’s not a fussy or overly time-consuming lasagna. It truly is a recipe that you can make fairly quickly for a weeknight meal.

I never thought I liked cottage cheese until I started cooking with it, but it’s really good in this lasagna. I’ve never really loved the texture of baked ricotta, so using cottage cheese was a welcome swap.

A quick note on adjustments: The original recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of kosher salt, but I found the end result a bit too salty. I recommend cutting that in half (which is reflected in the recipe below). Also, you definitely want to get a bag of frozen spinach, and not a block. You’re going to throw the frozen spinach right into the cheese mixture without thawing and draining it, which is a huge time saver. My go-to marinara sauce is Rao’s. Actually, it’s the only brand I buy, I think it’s that good. I didn’t have a head of garlic, so I cheated and used jarred minced garlic, which worked out fine. Don’t skip the fresh mozzarella for the top and don’t skip the fresh basil either.

Spinach Cottage Cheese Lasagna
Recipe from NYT Cooking

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 (10-ounce) bag frozen chopped spinach
• 2 large eggs
• 24 ounces whole-milk (4%) cottage cheese
• 5 ounces grated Parmesan (just over 1 cup)
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 head garlic (about 10 cloves), cloves smashed and chopped
• 1 teaspoons kosher salt (ideally Diamond Crystal)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil, for drizzling
• 1 (32-ounce) jar marinara sauce
• 1 (9-ounce) box no-boil lasagna noodles
• 1 (8-ounce) ball fresh mozzarella, sliced

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Feel the bag of spinach: If the spinach appears to be in large clumps, bang the bag on the countertop a few times to loosen and break them up.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the cottage cheese, Parmesan, frozen spinach, basil, garlic, salt and a very generous amount of pepper to the bowl. Mix well.

Drizzle a little olive oil into the bottom of a 9- by 13-inch baking pan. Add a generous spoonful of the marinara sauce and, using the back of a spoon, spread the sauce and oil to lightly cover the bottom of the pan.

Arrange a layer of noodles to cover the bottom of the pan, breaking them up if necessary to try to cover the bottom of the pan. (You will probably use 5 noodles per layer, breaking one of them to fit the gap.)

Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture on top of the noodles and spread the mixture evenly with the back of a spoon. Spoon one-third of the remaining marinara sauce over the cottage cheese and spread it evenly.

Add another noodle layer. Spoon the remaining cottage cheese layer on top and spread it evenly. Spoon half the remaining sauce over that and spread it evenly.

Add a final noodle layer, then pour the remaining marinara sauce over the noodles and spread it evenly. Top with sliced mozzarella and then a drizzle of olive oil.

Bake the lasagna uncovered for about 35 minutes until the mozzarella is melted, and the sides and top are browned and bubbly.

Let the lasagna rest for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

You can assemble the lasagna a day ahead, cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before baking.

Yield: 6 servings