Spinach Artichoke Lasagna -- The Other Dish That Feeds You Through Wednesday

December arrived and brought the cold with it. First frost was last week. The garden is done — the tomato plants are brown sticks, the pepper plants are black, and the last of the squash rotted on the vine because I forgot to pick it, which Connie mentioned with the subtle disappointment of a woman who told me to pick the squash three times and was right all three times. The backyard looks bare. The grill is covered. The fire pit is waiting. Winter in Lexington is gray and flat and nothing like winter in Harlan County, where the mountains hold the snow like cupped hands and the whole world turns quiet.

This week I made vegetable beef soup, which is the cold-weather answer to the question that every Appalachian kitchen asks starting in November: "What can I make from what I have?" Vegetable beef soup is the ultimate "what I have" soup because it accepts everything. Whatever's in your pantry. Whatever's in your freezer. Whatever the garden left behind. It's democratic. It's forgiving. It's the soup that says yes to everything.

Start with a chuck roast — about two pounds. Cut it into cubes, season with salt and pepper, and brown it in a Dutch oven. Not all at once — in batches, so each piece gets a proper sear. That browning is where the flavor is born. The Maillard reaction again — Amber's word, my practice. Remove the beef. In the same pot, cook a diced onion, carrots, celery. Then add the beef back, along with a quart of beef broth (or water with a couple of bouillon cubes — Betty used bouillon and saw no shame in it), a can of diced tomatoes (or a pint of your stewed tomatoes from August), and whatever else you've got: potatoes cubed, corn cut off the cob or frozen, green beans snapped, peas, lima beans, okra if you have it. Bay leaf, thyme if you're feeling fancy. Salt, pepper.

Simmer for at least two hours. The beef gets tender. The vegetables meld. The broth becomes thick and rich. Serve with cornbread. Always with cornbread. The cornbread is not optional. The cornbread is the delivery system for the broth, which is where most of the love lives.

I made a big pot on Sunday. It'll last us through Wednesday, which is the other beauty of soup — it makes time. One afternoon of cooking buys you four days of eating. That's efficient. That's Appalachian. That's a woman with six kids and one income figuring out how to turn Sunday's labor into Wednesday's dinner without anyone noticing that it's the same pot.

Connie and I started our Christmas list. It's short. Travis: gift card to the hardware store. Amber: cash, because college students need cash the way fish need water. Clay: he wants new cleats for next season, the expensive kind, the ones that cost more than my first month's pay at the mine. I'll get them because a boy who earned a starting varsity spot as a junior deserves the cleats, and because I can't give him what I really want to give him, which is a guarantee that life will be fair and things will work out. The cleats will have to suffice.

Not every cold-weather night calls for soup, and Connie reminded me of that when she pulled this spinach artichoke lasagna out on Tuesday — the same logic as the soup pot, just layered instead of simmered. It feeds a crowd, it makes time the way Sunday cooking is supposed to, and it uses what you have: a couple bags of frozen spinach, a can of artichoke hearts, cheese stacked up in the back of the fridge. It’s the same answer to the same question, just wearing different clothes. Here’s the way we make it.

Spinach Artichoke Lasagna

Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 50 min | Total Time: 1 hr 15 min | Servings: 9

Ingredients

• 12 lasagna noodles, cooked al dente and drained
• 2 (10 oz) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed very dry
• 1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat and prepare. Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions, drain, and lay flat on a sheet of foil so they don’t stick together.
2. Make the white sauce. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute. Slowly pour in milk, whisking constantly, and cook until the sauce thickens, about 5—7 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Remove from heat.
3. Mix the filling. In a large bowl, combine ricotta, egg, minced garlic, squeezed spinach, and chopped artichoke hearts. Stir together until evenly mixed.
4. Layer the lasagna. Spread a thin layer of white sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Lay 3 noodles over the sauce. Spread one-third of the ricotta-spinach filling over the noodles. Spoon one-quarter of the remaining white sauce over the filling. Scatter 1/2 cup mozzarella on top. Repeat layers two more times. Finish with a final layer of noodles, the last of the white sauce spread evenly, remaining mozzarella, and the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.
5. Bake covered. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
6. Uncover and brown. Remove foil and bake an additional 20 minutes, until the top is bubbling and golden at the edges.
7. Rest before serving. Let the lasagna sit for 10—15 minutes before cutting. This is not optional — it’s what keeps the layers together when you serve it.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 410 | Protein: 22g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 40g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 520mg