This Spinach & Ricotta lasagne dish is easy to prepare and makes a great family vegetarian main course. I used to do this as a canelloni, but found that a lasagne is much quicker, less fiddly to prepare and tastes just as good! As well as sustainability, I'm all about simple easy recipes. Here's three reasons this Spinach and Ricotta Lasagne recipe is one of the easiest out there.
- We just use simple passata for the sauce.
- We don't need to pre-cook the spinach and then take time squeezing out the water, we just add in fresh leaves.
- We don't need to pre-cook the lasagne sheets.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- You will need a square or rectangular oven proof dish. I use a lasagne dish that is 26cm x 18cm (internal measurement) as I can fit 3 lasagna sheets across without having to break them. This is big enough for 4 people. You can of course use dishes that are other sizes. You should try not to have lasagne sheets overlapping as they won't cook as well. If you do need to break them, score them with a sharp knife first. Don't worry if it looks a bit messy, once the sauce is poured over them, they won't be seen.
- If you can't get hold of ricotta cheese, you can substitute mascapone instead. Both are soft Italian cheeses with a mild creamy flavour. You could also use a basic soft cream cheese.
- A lasagne needs to cook for 30 - 35 minutes so you shouldn't need to cover it as the top will not burn in this time. If you are keeping a lasagne warm in the oven or are re-heating it, you might want to loosely cover it to prevent the top from browning any further.
- There is no set number of layers you need to have. I usually get two layers of spinach and ricotta in this lasagne, but it really depends on how wide your dish is.
How to make it
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Step 4
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Add the olive oil to the pan and fry the onion over a medium heat until soft. Add the garlic together with the spinach and nutmeg and cook for about 2 minutes.
- Add in the ricotta cheese with the lemon zest, juice and half the parmesan. Season with black pepper.
- Spread half the passata on the bottom of an oven proof dish. Place a layer of lasagne sheets on top. Add a layer of the spinach and ricotta mixture, cover with another layer of lasagne sheets and repeat until all the mixture is used up. Add a final layer of lasagne sheets.
- Pour the remainder of the passata over the top and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese. If you are using a larger dish, you may need more cheese.
- Bake in the oven for 30 - 35 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is golden. Serve with the green salad.
How to reheat cooked Lasagne
Ideally, you want to defrost your lasagne before reheating. If you're not able to do this, you can re-heat it from frozen but it will take longer. As it has already been cooked, you should cover the top with foil to prevent it burning. Reheat in the oven at 190°C / 375°F/ gas mark 5 for 20 - 30 minutes for a defrosted lasagne. The lasagne should be piping hot before serving. To check this, place a fork in the middle for a few seconds. If the fork is hot, the lasagne is also hot in the middle. The middle will be the last bit to reheat.
Sustainability
Spinach can be bought all year round, but is in season March until June. Spinach has a high water content so reduces to about a quarter when cooked. If you have slightly more spinach than the quantity quoted in the recipe, use it up. It won't make much difference and is better than it going to waste. Spinach will keep in the fridge for 3 -4 days. All the ingredients in this recipe are available as organic. Organic produce has a lower environmental impact. For more information about organic produce, have a look at my Eating Sustainably page.
Lemons and nutmeg can be bought as Fairtrade. Fairtrade nutmeg powder is sourced from Sri Lanka through the Small Organic Farmer Association.
Storage
You can prepare the lasagne up to 24 hours in advance if you need to. Keep it in the fridge. Once cooked, it can be stored in the fridge for 2 - 3 days.
Spinach and Ricotta Lasagne
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil organic, fairtrade
- 2 onions organic, peeled, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic organic, peeled, crushed
- 300 g spinach organic
- 1 dash nutmeg organic, fairtrade
- 1 lemons organic, fairtrade, zested and juiced
- 500 g low fat ricotta cheese organic or use mascarpone
- 100 g Parmesan cheese organic, grated
- 1 dash black pepper organic, fairtrade, freshly ground
- 12 lasagna sheets organic
- 500 g passata organic
- 320 g green salad organic, to serve
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Add the olive oil to the pan and fry the onion over a medium heat until soft. Add the garlic together with the spinach and nutmeg and cook for about 2 minutes.
- Add in the ricotta cheese with the lemon zest, juice and half the parmesan. Season with black pepper
- Spread half the passata on the bottom of an oven proof dish. Place a layer of lasagne sheets on top. Add a layer of the spinach and ricotta mixture, cover with another layer of lasagne sheets and repeat until all the mixture is used up. Add a final layer of lasagne sheets.
- Pour the remainder of the passata over the top and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese. If you are using a larger dish, you may need more cheese.
- Bake in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is golden. Serve with the green salad.
Notes
Nutrition per serving
The Nutritional Values are computer generated estimates based on industry standards and are provided as a helpful guide only.
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