Nettle Lasagna. It’s one dish I make several times in the spring. Nettles are high in iron and many micronutrients including calcium, manganese, magnesium, selenium, zinc, and potassium. As I’m a big fan of getting the medicine of plants to the people in a way they will happily take them so that healing can occur, nettle lasagna is a tasty way to get the health giving benefits of nettles into your family and friends. It’s always a crowd pleaser! Nettle lasagna can be made in advance and frozen, or freeze leftovers (if there are any!) in single serving containers for nutrient dense lunches.
This recipe is from scratch. You can use a jar of spaghetti sauce from the grocery store, but try making the homemade spaghetti sauce. The taste is more than amazing, and not at all hard to make.
Nettle Lasagna
Ingredients
Tomato Sauce:
- 8-10 large heirloom tomatoes – cored, seeded, and chopped
- 1 medium onion – chopped
- 2 – 4 garlic cloves – chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 – 8 fresh shiitake, cremini, or reishi mushrooms - chopped
- 1 cup fresh basil – chopped
- 1 tbsp. each fresh oregano, sage, thyme – minced
- 1 1/2 tsp. nettle salt (see herb salt recipe) or sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. kelp - crushed
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 2 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1/3 cup parsley – minced
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 lb. ground beef (optional)
- 1/2 lb. pork sausage (optional)
Lasagna
- 6 cups fresh spring nettles – chopped
- 8 ounces nettle pesto
- 1 lb. mozzarella - shredded or sliced
- 8 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1/4 lb. goat or sheep feta cheese - crumbled
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 6 lasagna noodles - boiled and drained
Instructions
- Toss tomato sauce ingredient in a heavy pot. Simmer on medium low, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has reduced substantially. This should take about 2 hours.
- Brown 1 lb. ground beef, pork sausage, (or 1/2 lb. each) and add to the sauce. Optional, but super yummy.
- Layer a pan with sauce, dollops of nettle pesto, thinly sliced onions, cooked lasagna noodles, sauce, nettles, dollops of nettle pesto, thinly sliced onions, cheeses, noodles, sauce, nettles, dollops of nettle pesto, thinly sliced onions, cheeses, ending with cheeses as the final topping.
- Bake at 400° F for 30 minutes covered, then uncovered for 10 minutes or until bubbly all the way through Enjoy!
