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Prepare: 1 recipe Fresh Pasta (page 89), 2 cups Simple Tomato Sauce (page 264), 1 1/2 cups White Sauce (Bechamel Sauce; page 225).
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Remove the large stems from: 1 bunch of spinach (about 1/2 pound).
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Wash well and drain.
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Pour into a skillet over medium heat: 1 teaspoon olive oil.
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Add the spinach and season with: Salt.
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Cook until almost wilted.
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Add: 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped fine.
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Cook for a minute or two more.
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Set aside to cool.
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Gather the spinach into a ball, squeeze to remove excess moisture, and chop fine.
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Mix with: 1/2 pound ricotta cheese, 1 tablespoon olive oil, Salt.
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In a bowl combine the white sauce with: 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, A pinch of grated nutmeg, Salt.
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Roll out the pasta into 5- to 6-inch-long sheets.
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Cook al dente in abundant salted boiling water.
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Drain, rinse under cold water, drain again, and put in a bowl.
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To prevent the lasagne from sticking to one another, lightly coat them with: 1 tablespoon olive oil.
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Oil a 10- by 12-inch baking dish, and begin to assemble the lasagna.
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Spread a few spoonfuls of the white sauce on the bottom of the dish.
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Lay out a single layer of pasta, trimming as needed to fit the dish, and spread with a third of the ricotta mixture.
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Add another layer of pasta and spoon in half of the tomato sauce.
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Add another layer of pasta and pour over half the white sauce and top with another layer of pasta.
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Repeat until you have 7 pasta layers3 with ricotta, 2 with tomato sauce, and 2 with white sauceand end with a final top layer of pasta.
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Drizzle olive oil over the top, cover with foil, and bake in a 400F oven for 20 minutes.
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Remove the foil and sprinkle with: 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
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Bake for 10 to 15 minutes more, until bubbling and golden brown.
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Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
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Lasagna can be assembled ahead of time and baked later.
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Take it out of the refrigerator an hour before baking.
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Substitute Bolognese Sauce (page 227) or Mushroom Ragu (page 228) for the tomato sauce.
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For the spinach, substitute other greens, such as chard, escarole, or rocket.
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Add sliced mozzarella to the ricotta layers.
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In summer, substitute slices of ripe tomatoes for the tomato sauce.
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Stir pesto instead of spinach into the ricotta.
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A simpler lasagna-like baked pasta can be made by cutting the pasta into big squares and cooking as above.
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Spoon some tomato sauce on the bottom of a baking dish, place a square of pasta on the sauce, add some ricotta and Parmesan cheese, and fold the pasta over to form a triangle shape.
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Repeat with more squares of pasta, overlapping the triangles; top with more sauce; sprinkle generously with Parmesan; and bake for 15 to 20 minutes in a 450F oven until bubbly and crisp at the edges.
