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The 25 Most Popular Recipes of 2021.
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A simple White Pesto Lasagna for these days in between Christmas and New Years…simply the BEST. Layers of creamy cheese bechamel sauce with basil pesto and spinach. This dinner is always a favorite with our family, who are all in town right now for the holidays. It’s a great meal for entertaining, just make it ahead of time, and bake it off before guests arrive. Serve with a big bright salad!
Hi guys! Hope you all had an awesome Christmas! Ours was snowy and amazing. We had one new addition this year with little baby Walker – who will be here (with his parents) through February! Always thankful for my big family and the adventures they bring with them!
Keeping all these posts pretty short this week in an attempt to take a little time away from the computer. And honestly, really just give my mom a break who proofs these posts every single day!
So jumping into recipe things!
The details
This lasagna consist of 3 layers of noodles, pasta bechamel, and basil pesto. And we’re using pesto instead of ricotta cheese, so it has even more flavor and color!
Layer the sauce, then the noodles, then the pesto…and repeat! It’s super simple!
I made a homemade broccoli and basil pesto, but any store-bought pesto works great too. Just make sure if it’s extra oily to drain away the excess oil.
For serving
I make this, along with my more traditional meat lasagna, every single year for my family over the Christmas break. The girls usually prefer the white, while the boys devour the red. I serve each with my favorite winter salad and bread.
Perfect family dinner to feed a crowd!
Looking for other easy dinner recipes? Here are my favorites:
Crispy Tomato Herb Cheese Pan Pizza
Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta
My Family’s Favorite Pesto Pasta Bolognese
Lastly, if you make this White Pesto Lasagna, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
White Pesto Lasagna
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 683 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups shredded provolone
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cup basil pesto
- 2 packages (10 ounces) frozen spinach, thawed and drained
- 1 box no-boil lasagna noodles
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Grease a 9×13 inch dish.2. In a medium saucepan, melt together the olive oil and butter. Add the shallots, garlic, thyme, rosemary, chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Cook 5 minutes or until fragrant. Remove the garlic cloves and discard. 3. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute. Add the milk and broth. Bring to a boil and stir for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the provolone and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is fully melted and the sauce is smooth. 4. To assemble, spread 1/4 of the cheese sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with 3-4 lasagna sheets. Spread with 1/2 the pesto and sprinkle over some spinach. Add another 1/4 of the cheese sauce. Place another 3-4 lasagna noodles on top, add the remaining pesto, spinach and then another 1/4 of the cheese sauce, sprinkle over the remaining spinach. Layer the remaining lasagna noodles and pour the remaining cheese sauce over top. Top with a 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. 5. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling. Uncover and bake another 15 minutes, until the cheese is browned. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Delicious recipe! It’s the only lasagna that my kids have ever liked. Made it with your broccoli pesto recipe.
Hey Lydia,
Fantastic! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy New Year!? xxT
This lasagna is phenomenal! I had some homemade pesto that needed to be used as well as some spinach, fresh garlic, AND parmesan cheese in the fridge. I added in the rest of my mascarpone I had leftover from your mashed potato recipe from one of your cookbooks to make the cheese sauce even creamier and cheesier. Also followed someone else’s recommendation and mixed my pesto with ricotta. And pesto in my house is always accompanied by sundried tomatoes so I threw some in as well. My dish only made two layers and I’m not even mad! Can’t wait to make it again!
Hey Jessica,
Fantastic! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy New Year!? xxT
This was delicious! I added ground Turkey and layered it with the spinach. We froze the leftovers so we could have them for postpartum meals and I think it’ll be a nice comfort food to reheat. I will definitely be making it again and might even add mushrooms next time. Another excellent HBH recipe!! Thank you Teigen!
ahh, I meant **Tieghan**
Hey Erin,
Fantastic! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy New Year!? xxT
I made this for my family for New Years Eve dinner. It was delicious! The rosemary made it taste like a perfect Christmas-y, New Years, winter-y, dish. My husband suggested I make it again soon. Thank you again for your delicious recipes.
Hey Alissa,
Awesome! I love to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a go! Happy New Year!? xTieghan
Love it!!! Super easy to put together. Lasagna sometimes feels a little daunting to put together but this felt very simple even with making the sauce from scratch. Can’t go wrong with cheese and garlic in my house so they loved it!
Hey Kelly,
Awesome! I love to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a go! Happy New Year!? xTieghan
This was a HIT in my house! Even with two meat loving boys it still went over great. I loved the sauce, all the herbs with the milk/broth mix was lovely. I will for sure make this one again!
Hi Kristen,
Awesome! I love to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a go! Happy New Year!? xTieghan
This turned out great! I had to use fresh spinach because frozen wasn’t available. I wilted 12 oz fresh baby spinach leaves in the microwave for one minute, squeezed it dry, and chopped it. I also added ground Italian turkey sausage. Everything else was as written and it was delicious! Thanks!!
Hey Chris,
Wonderful! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a go! Happy New Year!? xTieghan
How much chili flakes please? I don’t see it on the Ingredients list. Thank you!!
Hi Lori,
A pinch of chili flakes is perfect. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Could this be prepared and frozen to bake later?
Hi Melissa,
Yes, that will work well for you. I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
I had some homemade pesto from the summer in my freezer to use so I made this for my friends for dinner last night. Everyone loved it! I prepped the lasagna the night before to make it easier, and it still cooked perfectly – I had it in the oven for closer to an hour though (possibly bc I cooked it from being cold / straight from the fridge). I even mixed a tub of ricotta with the pesto and added it to the layers so it was extra cheese delicious! I also added a third layer to use up the whole box of the lasagna noodles that I had. Thank you for such a warming recipe and an easy one to prep and share with family and friends!
Hey Jenna,
Fantastic! Love hearing that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try! xTieghan
In the oven right now – can’t wait! Instructions call for chili flakes but they aren’t listed — what is the amount needed? I just threw in a pinch!
Hi Margaret,
Fantastic! Love hearing that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try. A pinch of chili flakes is great! xTieghan
Hi! Looks delicious! Can I use fresh spinach instead of frozen? I prefer doing that with my other lasagna dishes.
Hi Dawn,
Totally! I would just cook it down first. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
LOVE YOUR RECIPES …. WILL BE TRYING THIS ONE SOON !
QUESTION: HAS ANYONE BEEN HAVING ISSUES PRINTING OFF THE RECIPES ?
WHEN I ATTEMPT TO PRINT ….. I AM GETTING A LARGE CHUNK OF THE BOTOM MISSING IN ACTION. AT ONE TIME DID YOU INCLUDE A SLIDING SCALE AT THE TOP OF YOUR PRINTABLE PAGE FOR FONT SIZE ???
MIGHT BE ANOTHER SITE.
NOT A GAME CHANGER, AS I WILL STILL USE YOUR TERRIFIC OFFERINGS !
JUST ASKIN’ ………..
Hi Toni,
So sorry to hear this! I am pretty sure everything is working probably on our end. Maybe adjust something with your print settings? xTieghan
Delectable. I wouldn’t change a thing about this recipe except perhaps add a tiny bit more vegetable broth/milk or don’t squeeze out your spinach as much as I did (it was bone dry–lol), as the dish comes out a touch dry. Also, I was near the end of the recipe before I realized that I still had a bunch of spinach since the recipe doesn’t talk about what to do with it after its first being mentioned. Other than that, another ‘knocked-it-outta-the-park’ recipe.
Hi Troy,
Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Happy Holidays!? xT
Tieghan,
Is this a recipe that tastes even better the second day? I am serving it Thursday. Should I make it Wednesday and reheat it Thursday? I know that works well with red lasagna and spinach pie.
Thanks!
Hi Georgette,
I think first or second day are both great! Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan