Sunday, October 23, 2011

Pumpkin and Spinach Lasagne

Yesterday, I showed you how to make pumpkin purée. Now I'm going to share with you a recipe for Pumpkin and Spinach Lasagne I tried out for dinner yesterday. The original recipe comes from a magazine called 'Healthy Food Guide.' (My favourite magazine, so many gorgeous recipes!)

Alterations:
Though the original recipe asks for chunks of pumpkin to be lightly fried, I used my purée instead. I also used adult spinach instead of baby spinach, removing the stalks and wilting it before adding the pumpkin. The recipe also called for 350g of fresh lasagne but I used dried and I only needed five sheets! Very low in carbohydrates. :) (Also low in fat, salts and saturates as well as high in calcium and iron.) How many sheets of pasta you need will depend on the size and shape of your oven proof dish.



PUMPKIN AND SPINACH LASAGNE
Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • Cooking oil spray.
  • 500g pumpkin purée
  • 250g spinach, heavy stalks cut off
  • 2 x 400g cans of tomatoes with herbs
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 250g ricotta
  • 250g low-fat cottage cheese
  • 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
  • 30g parmesan, grated
  • 5-7 sheets of dried lasagna





1. Preheat oven to 200°C/ fan 18O°C/gas 6.

2. Spray a frying pan a few times with the cooking oil. Add the spinach, a third at a time and wilt over a low heat, stirring frequently.



3. Add the pumpkin, garlic and tins of tomatoes to the spinach and cook over a medium heat for five minutes.





 4. Add the ricotta, cottage cheese, two thirds of the parmesan and dried herbs together and blend in a food processor or with a handheld blender until it makes a smooth paste.
 5. Pour one third of the tomato into an ovenproof dish. Add a layer of lasagne, followed by more tomato sauce and a layer of the cheesy sauce.* Repeat these layers until the ingredients are used up and finish with the cheese sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan and bake for 30 - 40 minutes.
*(The cheese sauce can be tough to spread, I found. Try using a spatula.)




4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Again, hats off to you. This looks delicious. You've convinced me to get a pumpkin and try these out for myself!

Robin Stevens said...

This is definitely going on my to-make list. NOM.

Telkanis Sephrysi said...

This looks so delicious. @_@ I need to start cooking, and if I do I think this is first on the list.

Anonymous said...

Nice, Amy! I am definitely trying this.