Make a tasty spinach and ricotta lasagne
Kate Morris and Sally Brown are ood writers and members of the uild of Food Writers. This recipe for a simple, quick and delicious lasagne is from their book The World in My Kitchen. “This recipe could make you very popular at home because it just needs the oven, a baking dish and very few utensils, so there won’t be lots of washing-up at the end,” says Morris. “You can add leftovers such as cooked meat (cut into chunks), carrots, sweet potato or peas, or defrost some ready-roasted Mediterranean vegetables. If you can’t eat pasta, why not replace it with layers using roasted peppers from a jar?”
What you need
2 tbsp (tablespoons) olive oil
180ml passata or tinned tomatoes 3 (115g) sheets of egg lasagne (wheat) 6 fresh basil leaves 400g can borlotti beans, drained and rinsed
110g fresh spinach leaves (or defrosted frozen spinach) 250g ric cheese a room tempera 4 tbsp m 1 large p ground nutmeg
1 large pinch ground black pepper
2 tbsp grated hard Italian cheese, such as Parmesan Tablespoon
Pastry brush
Square 24cm roasting dish Strainer
Bowl
Fork
Kitchen foil
Instructions
1 Set the oven to 180°C to heat up.
2 Grease the roasting dish with olive oil.
3 Spread a small amount of the passata over the bottom of the dish then add a layer of pasta.
4 Spread half of the remaining passata over the pasta.
5 Tear up three of the basil leaves and scatter them on top, strain the borlotti beans and add half of them and half of the spinach.
6 Squash the ricotta in a bowl with a fork. Add the milk, nutmeg, pepper and mix them all together.
7 Spread half the ricotta mixture over the spinach.
8 Add another layer of pasta, tomato, basil, beans, spinach and ricotta. Make sure the final layer of ricotta is spread evenly across the top and covers the spinach or the leaves will dry out.
9 Sprinkle the top with the grated hard cheese and drizzle over with olive oil.
Cover with a lid or kitchen foil.
10 Carefully put the dish on a baking tray and then put it in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden and the food is bubbling.
11 Using oven gloves, carefully remove from the oven. It will be hot, so be careful. Serve hot or at room temperature.