Roast Pumpkin and Spinach Lasagna

Ingredients

  • 750g pumpkin
  • 2 + 1 tablespoons olive oil
  • 500g spinach, washed
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • whole nutmeg
  • 6 fresh lasagna sheets
  • 100g parmesan, freshly grated
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 celery stick, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 400g can tomatoes
  • 2 teaspoons light muscavado sugar
  • 500ml full-fat milk
  • 6 peppercorns
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1 bayleaf
  • 50g butter
  • 50g flour

Method

  1. Heat oven to 200 deg C; grease a large baking dish (about 1.4l) with butter
  2. Halve pumpkin, deseed and peel; slice into 1cm slices. Toss with 2 tablespoons of oil in a roasting dish, season, then roast until tender and slightly charred at the edges
  3. Soften the chopped onion in 1 tablespoon oil for 5 minutes
  4. Add the celery and garlic, and cook for another minute
  5. Add the tomatoes and sugar, then leave to simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes until a thick puree forms. Season to taste.
  6. Put the spinach in saucepan with the water still clinging to the leave. Cover and cook over medium heat until wilted. Leave until cool enough to handle, then squeeze out excess water. Chop and put into a pan with the butter; toss until the spinach is coated with butter, then season with salt, pepper and a generous grating of nutmeg
  7. Bring the milk to the boil in a pan with the peppercorns, onion and bay leaf. Set aside for 5 mins to infuse, then strain the milk into another pan. Add the flour and butter, then gently heat, whisking all the while, until you have a thick, smooth sauce
  8. Put a layer of pumpkin in the bottom followed by a layer of tomato sauce. Lay lasagne sheets on top of this, cutting them to fit if necessary (you don't want any overlapping). Now add a layer of white sauce followed by a scattering of spinach and half the cheese. Top with more lasagne sheets, pumpkin, tomato sauce, more lasagne and a final layer of white sauce. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. 8.Bake for 40 mins, or until the lasagne is golden and bubbling.