Pesto And Spinach Lasagne - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cans (14 oz each) diced tomatoes
1 can (28 oz) tomato puree
1/3 cup finely chopped basil, plus additional leaves for garnish
1 pkg (16 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed
3 cups ricotta cheese
18 sheets dried lasagne noodles
1 container (6 oz) basil pesto
1 pkg (8 oz) shredded Italian four cheese blend

Preparation

Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir 4 mins or until softened. Stir in tomatoes and tomato puree. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 mins or until sauce thickens. Remove from heat. Stir in basil. Divide into 2 equal portions.
Preheat the oven to 400\u00b0F. Lightly grease two 13 x 9 baking dishes. Squeeze excess liquid from spinach. Transfer to a bowl. Add ricotta; stir until combined. Divide into 2 equal portions.
To assemble each lasagne, using one portion of tomato sauce and one portion of ricotta mixture, spoon a third of the tomato sauce on bottom of one of the prepared dishes. Top with 3 lasagne sheets and a third of the ricotta mixture. Top with half the remaining tomato sauce, another 3 lasagne sheets and half the remaining ricotta mixture. Repeat layer. Top with half the pesto. Sprinkle with half the shredded cheese. Repeat with remaining ingredients to make another lasagne. Cover each dish with foil.
Bake 40 mins, swapping dishes halfway through cooking. Remove foil; bake 20 mins longer or until golden and bubbly. Let stand 10 mins. Set aside one lasagne; cool. Cover with foil. Refrigerate. Serve remaining lasagne sprinkled with basil leaves.