Laura's famous spinach lasagna!

This is a recipe that I have given out many, many times. It is so easy to make, I don' t even consider it cooking- it's more like throwing things together. Everyone loves it, vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. The other great thing about it is that most of the ingredients are things that are easy to have on hand at all times, either in the freezer or in the pantry. Even the cheeses in the recipe usually have a sell-by date several months down the road.
Funny story about this recipe: Several years ago I went on a weekend getaway with some friends to a remote village in France. I was told that the organizers were planning on grilling meat all weekend, and that meat would be the only thing available to eat, so I brought a large tray of this lasagna for myself so I wouldn't starve. The first night, as the carnivores enjoyed their meat, one person asked me if she could sample a tiny bit of my lasagna. Flattered, I gave her a piece. She wanted seconds. Soon everyone wanted to try it, and wanted seconds, and after that first night my lasagna was gone. I ate bread for the rest of the weekend!
So, without further ado, the recipe:

1 box no-boil lasagna noodles
2 large jars of your favorite marinara sauce
2 small containers of part-skim ricotta cheese, OR one ricotta and one container of firm tofu
1 box frozen chopped spinach
1 egg
1 cup Parmesan cheese (any kind will do. Personally I would not waste expensive Parmesan cheese in this kind of recipe, where it adds flavor but is not a main ingredient)
1 bag of shredded cheese. (I prefer a mozzarella-provolone mix, or the 'five cheese Italian blend' that my supermarket has, but you can use plain mozzarella. When I lived in France, I actually used to use Swiss ! )
2 cloves garlic
salt, pepper, dried oregano, dried basil

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 F.

Step 2: Assemble filling in a large bowl: If using tofu, mash tofu until it resembles ricotta cheese. Then add ricotta cheese, egg, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and the spinach, which has been thawed and squeezed dry. (you can either squeeze the liquid out through your hands, or in a fine-mesh strainer). Crush the garlic and throw it in. Add salt and pepper to taste (about a teaspoon of salt and a few turns of the pepper mill- you do have a fresh pepper mill, right?) and a tablespoon each of basil and oregano, which you will put in the palm of your hand and smoosh with the heel of your other hand to release the flavor. Mix everything together.

Step 3: Spoon a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of your lasagna dish. Lay down as many strips of lasagna fit in your dish. Then use a spoon to put large dollops of the spinach mixture all over the noodles until you have used up half the mixture. Use the back of the spoon to spread the mixture evenly over the noodles. Next add a layer of sauce, then sprinkle the sauce with your shredded cheese and a bit of your other 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Now start over: noodles, rest of spinach mixture, sauce, shredded cheese. Finish with a third layer of noodles, then sauce, then shredded cheese.
Bake at 375 for about 35-40 minutes or until cheese on top is browned to your liking.

variations:
-Sometimes I make a white sauce or bechamel sauce (or, truth be told, buy a packet of Knorr alfredo sauce mix) and add that to the tomato sauce for a creamier lasagna.
-Sometimes I add fake meat crumbles, either beef flavor or sausage flavor, to the sauce. This always surprises people, who think I have given up my misguided vegetarian ways when they taste the sausage. Ha! Fooled you, carnivores!
-Don't worry if you don't have any garlic. You can add garlic powder, or just leave it out.
Bon appetit!