Spinach & Ricotta Lasagna
This is very cheesy and therefore not exactly healthy per say. But it does feature a lot of green veggies and is a very comforting dish.
Ingredients
around 400g of frozen spinach
250g tub of ricotta
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 diced courgette
1 chopped onion
1 cube of frozen garlic/ 1 teaspoon of garlic puree/ 2 crushed cloves of fresh garlic
around 50ml milk (I use soya)
1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
Plenty of fresh black pepper
Large handful of fresh chopped parsley
about 9 sheets of dried pasta lasagna sheets
430gjar of white sauce
Grated cheese of your choice and volume
Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees or gas mark 6
Use a shallow square casserole dish and spray it lightly with oil.
Heat the oil in the pan. If you use fresh spinach wilt it in the pan, tip into a sieve and squeeze out some but not all the moisture out. If using frozen add the onion and courgette to the pan first and soften for 3 or 4 minuted before adding the frozen spinach. Cook for another 5 minutes or so until the spinach is heated through.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the ricotta, nutmeg, pepper and parsley and mix throughly. Add milk until the mixture is the consistency of a soup, it will reduce a lot during the cooking so don’t worry.
Spoon a third into the dish, level out and cover with 3 sheets of pasta. Do this 3 times.
Cover the final layer of pasta with the jar of white sauce. I tend to fill the empty jar around a fifth full of water, put the lid back on, shake it vigorously and pour over the dish. This loosens up any sauce left in the jar and also adds extra moisture.
Cook the lasagna in the oven for 30 minutes, remove and cover with cheese. My husband is a huge cheese lover, so in our house that means smoothering it with a huge chunk of cheddar.
Return it to the oven for around another 30 minutes.
Exact times will depend of the size of the dish you use. Poke the lasagna with a knife before you pronounce it cooked to ensure the pasta is soft and cooked.
Enjoy!
