SPINACH, RICOTTA & PESTO LASAGNE

It was awful on Sunday to wake up to the news of yet another terrorist attack, it is so devastating. It certainly makes me wary about going into central London and all I wanted to do on Sunday was hanker down with my family at home. We decided to cook this lasagne as it sounded a little healthier and lighter than a normal lasagne which was just what we needed after a week of indulgence.

It took about 45 minutes to prepare and then 45 minutes to cook and it is freezable.

Ingredients for 8 people:

100g butter

100g plain flour

600ml semi-skimmed milk

400g ricotta

100g Parmesan, grated

2g ground nutmeg

200g spinach, washed and roughly chopped

2 bunches of spring onions, sliced

Roughly 225g dried lasagne sheets

190g pesto

2 heaped tbsp pine nuts

(I also added some grated cheese as I am a cheese addict but it probably wasn't necessary)

Melt the butter in a large pan, then stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk gradually, one splash at a time, to make a smooth sauce. Bring to a gentle bubble while still stirring, then cook for a couple of minutes until thickened.

Turn off the heat and whisk in the ricotta and half the Parmesan until smooth. Season and add the nutmeg. Spoon out a couple of ladlefuls of the sauce and reserve for the top of the lasagne. Then stir in the chopped spinach and spring onions into the rest of the sauce.

Preheat the oven to 180 C / fan 160 C / gas mark 4.

Spread a third of the spinach sauce over the bottom of a large baking dish. Add a layer of pasta, then spread over a third of the pesto. Top with another third of the spinach sauce, followed by pasta and pesto and then repeat one more time. Add a final layer of pasta, then spread over the reserved white sauce. Scatter with the remaining Parmesan and the pine nuts (we also added some extra grated cheese). (At this point, if you are freezing rather than cooking, pop in the freezer now). Otherwise bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until bubbling, browned and crisp on top.

A lot of pictures there!! This recipe is quite full on to make, but then lasagnes always are, however it was totally worth it and we really enjoyed this. I am a huge lasagne fan so it was nice to have one that is slightly different to normal plus it felt almost healthy with all the green vegetables. Having said that, both my husband and my daughter recommended we should have had some mince on the side....I reckon a tomato and onion salad would do the trick. I am already looking forward to reheating our leftovers although not this week as it is diet time again (boo)!

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