Roast Pumpkin, Spinach & Tomato Lasagne
This Roast Pumpkin, Spinach & Tomato Lasagne was on regular rotation in our household for the beginning of 2020. Now that pasta sheets are readily available in supermarkets again, it’s the perfect healthy comfort food to welcome in the chill of winter.
It’s also a delicious way to sneak a whole lot of veg into a well loved family meal. Bonus points if you prepare this Sunday evening, ready to pop in the oven on a weeknight – providing a quick and hearty dinner with leftovers for lunch the next day.
During the great Covid-19 pasta shortage, I made a variation with thin slices of roast pumpkin. These roast pumpkin slices were layered in substitution for the dried pasta layers and work really well as a lower carb option. The texture of the pre-roasted slices is important in replicating the mouthfeel of the pasta layers.
If you love this recipe, you might also be interested in more pumpkin recipes or other dinner ideas from Peanut Pantry.
Roast Pumpkin, Spinach & Tomato Lasagne
Preheat oven to 200oC and chop pumpkin into 1" cubes. Roast pumpkin, seasoned with 1/2 tbsp oil, salt and pepper for 45mins or until tender. Remove from oven to cool. This step can be completed a day in advance if required.
Dice Onions and Celery. Mince Garlic finely. Sautee onions and celery over a medium heat with the remaining 1/2 tbsp oil until softened - approx. 5 minutes. Add mince to pan and brown. Once the mince has cooked through fully, add in the clove of garlic and sautee until fragrant.
Add in the tin of Cherry tomatos, passata & oregano and stir to combine. Reduce the temperature to low and keep the sauce at a low simmer while you prepare the remaining steps.
In a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour over a low temperature to form a rough roux. Cook for 1-2minutes and then gradually incorporate the milk with a whisk. Continue whisking until the mixture thickens - approx 5-10mins. Whisk in the chicken stock powder and taste to see if the sauce requires more salt/pepper to taste
In a large lasagne pan (I use an ovenproof dish that is 25.5cm Square / 10" Square) begin by layering 1/2 the mince mixture.
lightly mush half the roast pumpkin into the base layer of mince & tomato sauce. Continue layering with the next layer of pasta sheets and then cover this with half of the creamy sauce. Sprinkle the frozen diced spinach over your creamy sauce layer and then continue with another layer of pasta.
Top the pasta with the remaining mince sauce and gently press down the remaining pumpkin into this layer. Top with another layer of pasta sheets and then creamy sauce. Finish the top creamy layer with your grated cheese. The prepared lasagne can be covered well and refrigerated at this point to be cooked at a later time. If you want to prepare this dish more than 2 days in advance I would reccomend freezing after cooking.
To finish off the lasagne, preheat the oven to 180oC and bake for 45 minutes or until golden on top and bubbling at the sides.
Leave the baked lasagne to rest for 20minutes before slicing in and serving.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 200oC and chop pumpkin into 1" cubes. Roast pumpkin, seasoned with 1/2 tbsp oil, salt and pepper for 45mins or until tender. Remove from oven to cool. This step can be completed a day in advance if required.
Dice Onions and Celery. Mince Garlic finely. Sautee onions and celery over a medium heat with the remaining 1/2 tbsp oil until softened - approx. 5 minutes. Add mince to pan and brown. Once the mince has cooked through fully, add in the clove of garlic and sautee until fragrant.
Add in the tin of Cherry tomatos, passata & oregano and stir to combine. Reduce the temperature to low and keep the sauce at a low simmer while you prepare the remaining steps.
In a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour over a low temperature to form a rough roux. Cook for 1-2minutes and then gradually incorporate the milk with a whisk. Continue whisking until the mixture thickens - approx 5-10mins. Whisk in the chicken stock powder and taste to see if the sauce requires more salt/pepper to taste
In a large lasagne pan (I use an ovenproof dish that is 25.5cm Square / 10" Square) begin by layering 1/2 the mince mixture.
lightly mush half the roast pumpkin into the base layer of mince & tomato sauce. Continue layering with the next layer of pasta sheets and then cover this with half of the creamy sauce. Sprinkle the frozen diced spinach over your creamy sauce layer and then continue with another layer of pasta.
Top the pasta with the remaining mince sauce and gently press down the remaining pumpkin into this layer. Top with another layer of pasta sheets and then creamy sauce. Finish the top creamy layer with your grated cheese. The prepared lasagne can be covered well and refrigerated at this point to be cooked at a later time. If you want to prepare this dish more than 2 days in advance I would reccomend freezing after cooking.
To finish off the lasagne, preheat the oven to 180oC and bake for 45 minutes or until golden on top and bubbling at the sides.
Leave the baked lasagne to rest for 20minutes before slicing in and serving.
Notes
You could either replace the mince with 1 can of lentils, drained – or use a plant based mince alternative.
There are so many decent vegan cheese replacements these days, that you can pretty much make the lentil substitution above and replace all cheeses with vegan equivalents.
Pick an egg free dried pasta sheet and then replace the butter and milk in the bechamel sauce with olive oil & soy-milk. The Bechamel can then be further pimped up with a tsp of dijon and 1tbsp nutritional yeast for extra cheesy flavour.
Key Ingredients
Wow. This sounds awesome.
Will definitely have to try this.