It’s amazing what old friends sometimes remember for you. In a recent email from my good friend Chelsea Marshall I was reminded of a “white lasagna” that I cooked back when I was first starting to flex my culinary muscles. It was the first year after college and I was living with in a ramshackle, tumbledown house with half a dozen ex-Guilfordites. In April I had the urge to cook a big spring feast for us all, but since I couldn’t decide between Easter or Passover for my inspiration I simply stole menu items from both celebrations.

Perhaps Jewish isn’t something you can pick up (although my current relationship, not to mention my potato pancakes, beg to differ), but my matzo ball soup was less than a success. The soup itself came from a homemade stock, but the matzo balls were dense and chewy. It’s the result of a stubborn fixation I have on making everything from scratch rather than using a tried and true mix from a box. My ability to cook an Easter feast, on the other hand, seemed almost miraculous. I had hoped the four roast chickens would take center stage, but instead it was the spring lasagna, a side dish prepared with my vegetarian friends and roommates in mind, that stole the show.

With Easter on the horizon it seems like the perfect time to revisit this half forgotten recipe.

I recently discovered a new store in Somerville selling fresh pasta (Dave’s on Holland St, if you’re interested), and so it’s easier than ever for me to make lasagna since I no longer have to boil and then separate the noodles. The other thing that makes lasagna so easy is Sam’s mom. I have yet to visit my boyfriend’s parents and leave their house empty handed. I assume it’s because I never update my blog that Sam’s mother thinks I want for food, but in any case, she always packs me off with a neat paper bag stuffed with goodies. This week it was two containers full of locally made ricotta. With two leeks and half a bag of spinach in my fridge, all I had to purchase were the artichokes.

So, Chelsea, this recipe is for you. I hope you dazzle all your friends with it out there in Ireland!

Ingredients:

• 4 tbs unsalted butter
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups whole milk
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 2 leeks, rinsed and diced
• 8 artichoke hearts, diced (a 14 oz can will do)
• 4 oz fresh spinach, de-stemmed and chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups fresh ricotta
• 2 cups fresh mozzarella
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• ¾ lb fresh lasagna noodles

Recipe:
1. Take the milk out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.
2. Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook until golden brown. Whisk in the milk, pouring it in a slow and steady stream so that no lumps form. Cook for about 8 minutes or until slightly thickened. Flavor with salt, pepper, and the nutmeg. Take off the heat and set aside, whisking every once in a while to ensure that no lumps or skin form.
3. In a large pan heat the olive oil to medium-high. Add the leeks and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the artichokes and cook until all the water has evaporated and the leeks are just beginning to brown. Add the spinach and cook until it is deep, bright green and just beginning to wilt. Remove the pan from the heat, flavor with salt and pepper and set aside.
4. In an 8×12 lasagna pan pour a small amount of the milk sauce onto the bottom of the pan and spread it around to it covers the whole bottom.
5. Place the lasagna noodles in a single layer over the bottom of the pan. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta on top of the noodles. Add 1/3 of the vegetable mixture on top of the ricotta. Pour 1/3 of the milk sauce over the vegetables. Repeat these steps twice until all of the ricotta, vegetables, and milk sauce are used up.
6. Add a final layer of lasagna noodles to the top of the baking dish. Top with the fresh mozzarella.
7. Place the baking dish in a 375 degree oven and back for 40-50 minutes, until the top is bubbling and developing brown spots.
8. Remove the lasagna from the oven and allow it to sit for 15 minutes before cutting and serving it.