Clam and Mushroom Lasagna

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the onion and garlic in large, nonstick skillet and cook over medium-low heat, until the onion is translucent. Add a little water, if necessary to prevent scorching. Add the mushrooms and cook them until soft, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Drain the clams, reserving the liquid. Set them aside.

Combine the clam juice and the milk and heat until bubbles appear around the edge, either in a microwave oven or on the top of the stove.

Melt the margarine in a 2-3 qt. saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add the hot clam juice and milk mixture all at once, stirring constantly with a wire whisk.

Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture starts to thicken, about 5 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the pepper, oregano, and thyme and mix well. Stir in the reserved clams and the parsley and set aside.

Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with nonstick spray. Spread half the mushroom mix evenly over bottom of dish. Cover with a layer of cooked lasagna noodles (5 oven-ready ones). Top the noodles with all the ricotta cheese and 1/3 of the clams.

Add a second layer of noodles. Spread the remaining mushroom mixture over the noodles. Cover with half the remaining clams. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella cheese evenly over the top. Top with the remaining noodles, clams and mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle the bread crumbs evenly over the top.

Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven until bubbling and lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before cutting.