The Not So Skinny Cook

This recipe is a great alternative to a traditional lasagna, using bacon and braised winter greens. Feel free to substitute the Swiss chard with kale, or even spinach in the summer. You could also go meatless and skip the bacon, but what would be the fun in that? Hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do.

White and Green Lasagna with Bacon

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 6-8 fresh lasagna sheets (I prefer to make my own whole wheat lasagna for this)
• 2 cups ricotta Cheese
• 14-16 ounces Mozzarella Cheese, sliced thinly
• 12 pieces thick center cut bacon (about one package)
• 1 onion
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 1 large bunch Swiss chard, roughly chopped
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 4 Roma tomatoes, diced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cook bacon in a large skillet until still chewy. Put bacon on plate or cutting board reserving the fat in the pan.
3. Add onion and mushrooms to the bacon fat and sauté until golden. At this point add the Swiss chard and cook for another minute or two until it begins to wilt. Add the tomatoes and broth, salt to taste, cover and simmer stirring every few minutes for 10-15 minutes, until chard is tender.
4. While the chard is cooking, dice the bacon. Once the chard is done add it to the mixture and remove from heat. Drain off some of the remaining liquid into a separate cup.
5. Oil you baking pan. Line the bottom with 1/3 of the Swiss chard mix. Top with 1/4 of the ricotta and mozzarella slices. Cover with lasagna sheets. Repeat twice more. Now you should have lasagna sheets on the top and 1/4 of the ricotta and mozzarella left. drizzle the reserved braising liquid over the lasagna sheet and crumble on the ricotta and add the slices of mozzarella trying to cover most of the pasta.
6. Bake for 45min – 1 hour, until cheese on the top has melted and turned a golden brown and most of the liquid has cooked off. Let rest for about 10 minutes before serving.