Add a meat-free meal to your weekly dinner plan this month with this deliciously filling vegetarian lasagne
Makes 4
Ready in 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, peeled and flesh diced
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
3 tbsp olive oil
200g baby spinach leaves
250g fresh egg lasagne sheets
250g ricotta cheese
300g cottage cheese
150g ready-grated mozzarella cheese
25g pine nuts
Green salad, to serve
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200C / Fan 180C / Gas Mark 6. Place the diced butternut squash, onion, garlic and oregano in a large roasting tin and drizzle over 2 tbsp of the olive oil. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and toss to mix. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the squash is very tender. Cool for 10 minutes.
Transfer everything from the roasting tin (including any pan juices) to a food processor and process until smooth, adding a little hot water if needed to give the mixture a spreadable consistency.
Steam the spinach for 1-2 minutes until just wilted. Place the lasagne sheets in a large, shallow, heatproof dish and cover with boiling water. Leave for 3-4 minutes to soften then lift out of the water and drain on kitchen paper. Mix together the ricotta and cottage cheeses in a bowl along with half the mozzarella cheese.
Spread a third of the squash mixture in the base of a square medium-sized ovenproof dish. Top with a layer of wilted spinach followed by a layer of the cheese mixture and a layer of lasagne sheets, cutting them to fit if necessary.
Repeat the layers two more times, finishing with lasagne sheets and a thin layer of the remaining cheese mixture. Scatter over the rest of the mozzarella cheese and the pine nuts, and drizzle over the rest of the olive oil. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the cheese topping is golden and bubbling. Serve with green salad.
Mix it up:
Instead of the spinach you could use lightly fried slices of courgette or sliced beefsteak tomatoes for a varied taste.
