Pumpkin and Spinach Lasagne

Having a bit of a haul from our Pumpkin Picking on Sunday, I created this vegetarian Pumpkin and Spinach Lasagne on Monday – another Meat Free Monday option added to the repertoire.

I must admit, usually I would make my own béchamel or white sauce for lasagne, but as I had a sick boyfriend at home and our toddler to run around after and was batch cooking for the week, I took a cheat here and used the Dolmio Lasagne Sauce – which actually is pretty decent and I wouldn’t hesitate to use again as a shortcut. I’m not one for processed sauces, but sometimes the need for speed overtakes and the pressures of family and working life intervene.

This was a family dinner favourite – anything involving pasta always is with my daughter and Glen; Glen’s slightly harder to please with our meat-free options, but this went down well and we all agreed we’d have it again.

I thought I’d share this in honour of Pumpkin Day this Saturday in the lead up to Halloween.

Here’s how:

1 small roasted pumpkin (can use butternut squash)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 white onion
1 clove garlic
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp paprika
1 pack washed spinach
Lasagne sheets
1 jar Dolmio Lasagne White Sauce
50g grated Cheddar cheese
1 whole nutmeg
Salt & Pepper

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Roast the pumpkin until slightly softened. Allow the pumpkin to cool, then peel, and chop the flesh into long slice, discarding the pith and seeds inside (unless you’re using the pumpkin seeds for roasting and snacking on). Set aside.

To make the tomato sauce, add the olive oil to a pan on a low heat. Peel and dice the onion and mince the garlic and add to sauté slowly in the olive oil on a gentle heat.

Once slightly softened, add the tomatoes (could use passata), tomato puree, oregano, paprika and a pinch each of sea salt and black pepper to season. Add a couple of tablespoons of water and allow to cook for at least 30 minutes, or longer if you have it.

Once you’re happy with the sauce, remove from the heat and you’re ready to assemble the lasagne.

Firstly lay a layer of pumpkin at the bottom of an oven proof dish. Then spoon over a generous amount of the tomato sauce (you’ll need two layers so use about half). 

Next place the lasagne sheets over the top – don’t layer these on top of each other or they become a bit yucky in cooking.

Now pour over the Dolmio White Sauce to cover the sheets sufficiently. Now grate the nutmeg over really generously – this gives a really lovely warming flavour and really complements the dish, so be super generous.

Scatter over a really generous amount of spinach leaves – only one layer is spinach and it wilts quickly so add more, rather than less. 

Now repeat the process of adding the pumpkin, topped with tomato sauce then the lasagne sheets and white sauce.

Once again, grate over a really generous amount of nutmeg over the top with salt and black pepper and finish with the Cheddar before placing into the oven.

Cook for 35-40 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and bubbling away. Serve with a handful of green salad leaves, such as watercress or rocket. Enjoy! 

Rome in Food

One of the key ‘best bits’ of our recent Rome mini break, for my three good friends, Jemma, Stephanie and Jade was undoubtedly the food. We enjoyed fantastic morsels of food from the moment we arrived till the very last moment we left (cramming in last minute bruschetta en route to the airport).

Here’s a breakdown of some of our best bites during our four-day stay in Rome over the Easter break,

At Osteria Da Vita & Dina, a little trattoria close to the Vatican, was where we enjoyed our first meal and this opened our tastebuds up to the endless delights of Roman cooking. I shared a pizza so light and so crisp but with a rich, delicious topping of cheese, pig’s heat meat and mushrooms - a Bascaiola with a fresh, light and beautiful Caprese Salad of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil with Jade and we were literally groaning in delight at every mouthful. Jemma enjoyed a pizza and Steph some ravioli and we shared a carafe of wine – equivalent to a litre and the meal was less than £40 in Sterling. The pizzas were something we enjoyed all around Rome too.

Bascaiola Pizza and Caprese Salad in Osteria Da Vita & Dina

Raviolli at Osteria Da Vita & Dino

Seafood Linguini at by the Grand Caffe Maggiore by the Basillica Santa Maggiore washed down with delicious Birra Morretti. Such a simple 'sauce' or coating to the pasta made up of a little oil, a few sweet tomatoes, prawns, mussels and clams plus the tiniest pinch of basil - stunning to see and to taste. Lasagne here was also a treat - the meat was ground so finely, and it was rich and filling and made all lasagnes I've tried in the UK pale into insignificance. 

Lasagne at Grand Caffe Magiore

Seafood Linguini at Grand Caffe Maggiore

When visiting the Colosseum we enjoyed a hearty and delicious lunch at Messenzio Ai Fiori, a really great find. Jemma and I both had melt-in-the-mouth tagliata on a simple rocket salad and topped with sea salt and shavings of Peccorino. Beautiful. Jade had Saltimboca and Steph had Escalope de Millanese and both were equally fantastic. The calamari sharing appetiser we had here was mind-blowingly tasty, fresh and cooked to utter perfection. 

Saltimbocca at Messenzio Ai Fiori

Tagliata at Messenzio Ai Fiori

The best calamari at Messenzio Ai Fiori

Another great meal enjoyed was at a restaurant in the Piazza Navonna area after wondering around taking in the many foodie shops in the area. Here we had one of my favourite charcuterie Selections and the creamiest, most delicious burrata - stunning. I had the osso bucco - veal shin, slow cooked in a gorgeously rich tomato based sauce – beautiful. Other dishes here included a pork with truffles and cream that was so rich and delicious we were all jealous of Jade’s choice, a rabbit ragu with tagliatelle and a grilled seabass – all great.

Burrata

Osso Bucca

Rabbit Ragu

Pork with Truffles

Charcuterie all around Rome was good – whether in a nice restaurant or as a bar snack and the bruschetta was unlike anywhere I’ve enjoyed before – the flavour, although using a few very simple ingredients was just incredible. Also the olives, which all seemed to have been sourced locally, were sensational. I’ve long been a fan of Greek olives as my favourites, but these proved a fantastic contender.

Bruschetta

Charcuterie

Charcuterie

Sweet treats are not to be sniffed at it Rome either, whether a gelato, a pastry or a pudding such as the most beautiful looking (and tasting) tiramisu; you’re sure to find something to appeal to your sweet tooth.

Pastries at Grand Caffe Maggiore

Tirimisu - the best pick me up

Italians take food incredibly serious and it shows. Rome was one of the finest culinary trips I’ve ever been on and left me seriously hungry for more, not to mention a few pounds heavier. If you like Italian food, Rome is an absolute must-visit city for you.

Meat Free Monday: Spinach, Ricotta and Courgette-Pasta Lasagne

Healthy eating and sticking to a daily 1200 calorie count has its ups and downs. Weight is slowly but surely coming off of me, but my hungry, greedy little mind craves comfort food.

This recipe was born of one too many late-work finishes and wanting something substantial, filling and utterly delicious to look forward to for dinner - that ticked the comfort food box too.

By substituting the usual lasagne pasta sheets for ribbons of courgette instead, over 350 calories were saved overall and the below, which serves two comes in at 425 calories a portion. I must stress this low calorie portion is only realistic if you stick to the ingredient weights below.

This is a great vegetarian dish for a Meat Free Monday; however, if cooking for vegetarians, swap the Grana Padano cheese for another hard cheese that is suitable for vegetarians. Also if you're not keen on spice, simply omit from using the chilli flakes in the ricotta mix - but I love the added heat they bring - plus spicy chilli speeds up the metabolism. Win, win.

Also you can of course make your own tomato and basil sauce but I made this last night at 8pm after a long day and so used a hack - a jar of Lloyd Grossman's sauce - incidentally dinner was on the table in 30 minutes.

Meat Free Monday: Spinach Ricotta and Courgette-Pasta Lasagne

Here's how:

• 250g ricotta
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 garlic clove
• Nutmeg to taste
• 1 350g jar of Lloyd Grossman's Tomato & Basil Sauce (or alternative) 
• 150g spinach
• 2 medium courgettes
• 60g Grana Padano or alternative hard cheese
• 1 tomato
• 1 Light Olive Oil spray

Firstly make the ricotta sauce by adding the olive oil spray to a pan on a medium heat. Crush the garlic and add to the pan with the dried chilli flakes. After a couple of minutes add the ricotta and two thirds (40g) of the cheese use a wooden spoon to mix till the consistency gets slightly wetter and moveable. Grate over a generous amount of nutmeg, season with black pepper to taste and a pinch of salt and set aside off the heat.

Now cut the ends off of the courgettes, then using a vegetable peeler, create thin ribbons of courgette, lengthways.

Now it's time to assemble the lasagne. Start by placing a couple of spoonfuls of the tomato sauce at the bottom of your dish and spread with the back of the spoon. Next place a third of the spinach on top scattered to cover the dish. Now it's for the courgette ribbons, ensure every bit of spinach is covered so your end result is clear, beautiful, vibrant layers. 

Courgette Pasta layer of lasagne

The ricotta mixture needs to go on top of the courgettes and as they are obviously a lot flimsier than pasta sheets, I found the best way to get an even spread to cover all of the courgettes, was to use a pastry brush. You want to layer up three times, so use a third of the ricotta mix. Now top with another couple of tablespoons of the tomato sauce and then repeat till you have three layers.

For the topping, simply finely slice a tomato and place across the top then scatter the remaining 20g of cheese all over.

Place into the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese has melted and tomato sauce is bubbling. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for a few minutes before cutting and serving. Enjoy!

Spinach Ricotta and Courgette-Pasta Lasagne

Three-Cheese Topped Pork Lasagne

Foolishly,and in my natural greed, I forgot to take a photo of Sunday night’s dinner – but frankly it was too delicious not to share so here we are. Not a health tonic, it’s much more of an indulgent, comfort-food style of eating: my Three-Cheese Topped Pork Lasagne.

This can of course be tweaked to include beef or lamb mince, but do try the pork version as it is a definite flavour winner.


Ingredients


400g lean pork mince

1 red onion, chopped finely

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp dried oregano

Tin of tomatoes

2 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste

Lasagne sheets (I used dried but you could use fresh or if you have a pasta maker make your own)

425ml milk

45g butter

20g plain flour

Parsley stalks

10 peppercorns

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper

Half ball of Mozzarella

100g Parmigiana Reggiano

100g Mature Cheddar


How To


The Béchamel Sauce

  1. First in a saucepan warm through the milk with the peppercorns, parsley stalks and bay leaf as well as some generous seasoning. Allow to boil, then simmer for five minutes. Take off of the heat.

2. In a separate pan melt the butter slowly, not letting it burn. Once melted add the flour, bit by bit, constantly stirring it in with a wooden spoon.

3. Sieve the milk contents into the butter and flour mixture slowly, keeping up the stirring until all milk has been added and the consistency is thick and sauce-like whilst also smooth.

4. Add about 20g of the Cheddar and continue to stir until the sauce returns to the thick and smooth consistency

5. Taste and then add seasoning where necessary and take off of the heat.



The Meat & Sauce

1. Firstly sauté the chopped onion and garlic in some extra virgin olive oil in a non-stick pan.

2. Once softened add the pork mince and continue to move around the pan with a wooden spatula or spoon until its beginning to brown.

3. Add the cinnamon and oregano to the meat with a pinch each of sea salt and ground black pepper and allow to cook for a few minutes.

4. Add the tin of tomatoes and stir through so the meat is evenly covered. Next add the two tablespoons of sun-dried tomato paste. Cover and allow to simmer for twenty minute. Just before taking off of the heat add in some roughly torn fresh basil leaves.


Assembly


1. In your greased, ovenproof dish firstly layer some of the meat.

2. Use a large spoon or ladle to pour on some of the béchamel sauce then use a palette knife to spread over the meat.

3. Add a sprinkling of the Parmesan over the sauce.

4. Top with the lasagne sheets so all of the sauce is covered and then add your next layer of meat.

5. Repeat this process so you have three layers of meat and then for the top layer top the lasagne sheets with the remaining béchamel sauce.

6. Finally use the remaining cheese to cover the top, sprinkling the Parmesan and Cheddar on evenly and tearing the Mozzarella and placing in even spots around the lasagne.

7. If you want to you can top with slices of tomato for a garnish.


Cook


1. Place in a pre-heated oven at around 160-170 degrees and allow to cook for around 40-45 minutes or until the top is a glorious golden brown and the cheese is bubbling away


Serve


Perfect with a simple green leaf salad, lightly dressed with either a squeeze of lemon or a drizzle of olive oil and some freshly ground black pepper. Serve with a glass of glorious Italian red wine - I enjoyed with a Barolo Milani 2007/8 Rocca, which was given to me recently as a present, and it went down rather well indeed.