Spinach and ricotta lasagne

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" Lasagne is one of those dishes that we all get a craving for from time to time, but it can be quite time-consuming to prepare. However, with this simple recipe for a classic combination, you can have it on the table in just over an hour." – Alan Rosenthal

Ingredients

260–275 g lasagne sheets
1 x 150 g mozzarella ball
2 T extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the spinach and ricotta
600 g frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
250 g fresh ricotta
50 g Italian hard cheese, finely grated
¼ t grated nutmeg
For the tomato sauce
4 cups passata
6 garlic cloves, finely grated
4 T roughly chopped basil leaves
1 t caster sugar
4 T extra virgin olive oil

Cooking Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6.

2. Add the defrosted spinach, ricotta, grated hard cheese and nutmeg to a large bowl, along with 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper. Give everything a good mix until fully incorporated.

3. In a separate large bowl, make the tomato sauce by mixing together the passata, grated garlic, chopped basil leaves, sugar and 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, along with 1½ tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper.

4. Take your wide shallow pot and add a quarter of the tomato sauce, spreading it out across the base of the pot with a spoon. Next, dot a third of the spinach mixture around the pot, and use the spoon to spread it out as best you can. It doesn’t matter if the spinach and tomato mixtures combine somewhat.

5. Next, add a layer of lasagne sheets, breaking a few to allow for the gaps around the edges of the pot (I do this very roughly). Top this layer of pasta with another quarter of the tomato mixture, followed by another third of the spinach mixture, once again coaxing the spinach across the entire surface. Top with another layer of pasta, another quarter of the tomato mixture and the rest of the spinach mixture.

6. Add a final layer of lasagne sheets, followed by the final quarter of the tomato sauce, spreading it around to cover all the pasta. Tear the mozzarella ball into small pieces and dot them evenly around the surface. Finally, drizzle over the 2 tbsp olive oil. Pop in the oven and bake for 40–45 minutes until the cheese on top is golden brown and the lasagne is bubbling enthusiastically.

7. Serve with a simple dressed salad.

This is an extract from Foolproof Veggie One-Pot by Alan Rosenthal. It’s published by Quadrille an imprint of Hardie Grant Publishing. Photographs: Rita Platts.