Friday 31 July 2009

Spinach Ricotta Lasagne

Work has been very quiet so far this morning and I'm hoping it stays that way! This is my last day before my two weeks off and I have pretty much got everything under control before I leave, which is a lovely feeling. I'm not doing much with the first week of my break, I'm staying in London, probably wandering around art galleries and shopping. The second week I am spending in Northumberland at the Hadrian's Wall Pilgrimage. It is only held every 10 years and includes a series of lectures and site visits to various parts of the wall to look at new archaeological developments. It should be fascinating.

On another note, how do you photograph lasagne so that it looks appetising? I still have no idea, and it looked even worse on the plate! It was however very tasty if a little brown and crispy on top. This was because I forgot to put the garlic bread into the oven until 5 mins before the lasagne was supposed to be cooked.

The recipe I used was a combination of one I found on a Sainsbury's recipe card and also Jamie Oliver's recipe for spinach and ricotta cannelloni.

Spinach and Ricotta Lasagne
(Serves 4)

50g butter
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1kg pack finely chopped frozen spinach, defrosted, excess liquid squeezed out
2 x 250g tubs ricotta cheese
125g mozzarella, finely diced
Freshly grated nutmeg
9 lasagne sheets
700g jar passata
1 ball mozzarella, sliced
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F, gas mark 4. Melt the butter in a pan and fry the onion and garlic for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove and combine with the spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, pepper and nutmeg. In a suitable ovenproof dish place a layer of lasagne sheets, top with some spinach and ricotta topping and some passata sauce. Add another layer of pasta followed by spinach and ricotta and passata.

Finish with lasagne sheets, passata sauce and mozerella slices on top. Place in the oven and cook for 40-60 minutes.

Serve immediately with salad and garlic bread.

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