Best-selling cookery book author and mum of three, Eleanor Ozich, created this delicious vegetarian lasagne.
“I adore lasagne, but it takes far too much effort when it comes to a mid-week dinner. There are typically various components, making plenty of mess and requiring far too much cleaning up at the end. That’s why I came up with this rustic one-pot lasagne that’s perfect cooked in a dutch oven. It has the most delicious pumpkin, olive, and feta sauce, finished off with crispy sage and a velvety ricotta béchamel. It’s cheesy, oozy, and insanely delicious, just like lasagne should be!”
Ingredients:
- 600g pumpkin, cut into 2cm cubes
- 1 ½ cups pitted green olives
- 200g feta cheese, cut into 1 cm cubes
- A small bunch of kale, stalks removed and roughly chopped
- 2 cans cherry tomatoes
- 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 300g fresh lasagne sheets
For the béchamel sauce:
- 1 cup ricotta
- ½cup cream
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 1 Tbsp cornflour or regular flour
- ½ tsp sea salt
For topping:
- A handful of fresh sage
- ½ cup slivered almonds
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 180 C.
- Add the pumpkin to your Biroix dutch oven, and cover with salted boiling water. Pop the lid on, then simmer on low for 10 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender when pierced with a fork. Drain, reserve a little of the cooking water, and add the olives, feta, kale, and cherry tomatoes. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, then toss well until combined.
- Tear or slice your lasagne sheets into rough strips, then toss through the sauce, making sure there are some chunky pieces at the top to create a layer.
- Add all béchamel sauce ingredients to a blender, and pulse until smooth and creamy.
- Pour the white sauce over the top, then sprinkle the fresh sage leaves and almonds. Finish with an extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden and bubbling.