This recipe is derived from the cookbook “Run Fast Eat Slow” by Olympic runner Shalane Flanagan and Shalane Kopecky. I know it has sweet potatoes in it and that might seem weird to you. Try it. I swear it’s good. You don’t even notice the sweet potatoes. What really sets it over the top is the spinach layer.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. ground beef
- ½ to 1 lb. Italian sausage (sweet or hot – your choice)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp. salt, divided
- 2 (24-ounce) jars of spaghetti sauce
- 1 lb. no-boil/oven ready lasagna noodles
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 bag fresh baby spinach (10-12 ounces)
- 2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes
- 24 oz. ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ¼ tsp. ground black pepper
- 1 lb. shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Place a 13-by-9-inch baking dish on top of a rimmed baking sheet, covered in aluminum foil.
- Brown ground beef and Italian sausage in a pan with garlic, oregano, red pepper and ½ teaspoon salt. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer over low heat while preparing remaining ingredients.
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat and cook spinach with remaining ½ teaspoon salt until wilted, about 3 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the sweet potato, ricotta, eggs and black pepper.
- In the bottom of the baking dish, spread 1½ cups of the meat sauce and top with a layer of five noodles. Spread half the sweet potato-ricotta mixture over the noodles and top with all of the spinach.
- Start another layer with 1 ½ cups of sauce, then half the mozzarella, five noodles and the remaining sweet potato mixture.
- Top with another 1 ½ cup of the sauce, five noodles, the remaining sauce, the remaining mozzarella cheese and finally the Parmesan cheese.
- Cover the dish with foil. Bake in the center of the oven on top of the baking dish (to catch drippings) for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until golden and bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
