The fallout from too much – slow cooker spinach lasagna v. 1.0

Das Kinder turned nine this week. There was much rejoicing.

There were parties (plural). There were brownies. And doughnuts. And pancakes. And shopping extravaganzas. And a sleep over in which there was very little sleeping involved.

Das Kinder, with her stout nine year old constitution, came through with flying colors. Her Imperial Majesty and I, not so much; we're old and need sleep, or at least downtime. We decided that last night was to be Downtime. The tradition of a big Saturday night foodie throw down was to be postponed. This Saturday night was to be mindless and as pre-fab as possible.

She of Good Ideas nicked this recipe from a magazine left in her office. We've kicked it up a bit. What we like is that we could essentially prepare dinner at 2:30, then put it and ourselves on automatic until it was ready. Mindless is as mindless does. Or in this case does not.

Ingredients

• 2 packages frozen cooked and chopped spinach, thawed and water squeezed out
  
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
  
• 1 cup sliced fresh mozzarella
  
• ½ cup grated parmesan (Use the good stuff. It matters here.)
  
• 3 cups of marinara sauce (You can use homemade, we didn't. Thank you Mr. Newman.)
  
• Uncooked lasagna noodles – do NOT use the no cook variety
  
• 1 tablespoon Cantanzaro herb blend
  

Technique

Thaw the spinach. Do NOT cook the spinach, simply thaw it.

Mix it with the ricotta, Parmesan and Cantanzaro herb mix

In your crock pot, start your layers, sauce first, then uncooked noodle, then spinach / cheese mixture. Top with thin sliced mozzarella. Repeat. On the top, finish with a layer of sauce and Parmesan cheese. Now here's the tricky part: set your slow cooker on low for 4 hours, and walk away. Take a nap if you want.

After four hours, you'll be treated to a plate full of gooey loveliness.