Vegetable, ricotta & spinach lasagne

Ingredients (serves 6)

• Olive oil, to grease
• 1 250g pkt large instant lasagne sheets
• (San Remo brand)
• 1 250g pkt frozen chopped spinach, thawed, undrained
• 1 large (about 350g) orange sweet potato
• (kumara), peeled, thinly sliced
• 150g low-fat ricotta
• 90g grated light mozzarella
• 2 tbs chopped fresh oregano
• 1 tbs fresh oregano leaves, extra
• Crisp lettuce salad, to serve

• vegetable sauce

• 80ml (1/3 cup) water
• 1 brown onion, halved, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 400g cans Italian diced tomatoes
• 1 large celery stick, finely diced
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 1 tsp sugar
• 200g button mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh continental parsley
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper

• Method

  1. To make vegetable sauce, combine water, onion and garlic in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft.
  2. Add tomatoes, celery, tomato paste and sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and cook, covered, stirring often, for a further 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender. Stir in the parsley. Taste and season with salt and pepper. (You should have about 1.5L/6 cups sauce.)
  3. Preheat oven to 190°C. Brush a 6cm-deep, 22 x 28cm ovenproof dish with the oil to lightly grease.
  4. Spread just under a third of the vegetable sauce over base of greased dish. Cover with a single layer of lasagne sheets, trimming to fit. Spread spinach over. Top with half the sweet potato. Spoon over 125ml (1/2 cup) of vegetable sauce. Cover with lasagne sheets, then the remaining sweet potato. Spread with remaining vegetable sauce. Cover with lasagne sheets.
  5. Combine the ricotta, mozzarella and chopped oregano in a medium bowl, and then spread evenly over the top of the lasagne sheets.
  6. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake for a further 15 minutes or until the pasta and sweet potato are tender when tested with a skewer. Remove from oven and set aside for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with extra oregano leaves. Serve with the lettuce salad.

  Notes

  • Prep: 30 mins (+ 10 mins standing time)
  • Serve the lasagne with crusty bread, if you like.

    Preparation Time

    30 minutes

    Cooking Time

    75 minutes