Pumpkin, Goats Cheese & Spinach Lasagne

There's nothing that says Halloween like a pumpkin inspired recipe. Although we are not big fans of Halloween in our house, we are huge fans of Pumpkin recipes, so we still love this time of year when all of the pumpkins are around. Today I am featuring a Pumpkin, Goats Cheese & Spinach Lasagne. I was inspired to make this when I saw the Goats Cheese & Pumpkin Lasagne featured in the Nigella "Christmas" recipe book. However, her version of the dish looked a little too time consuming for me, and I also wanted to include a green vegetable of some description in mine, and so I decided to create a different version which was just as yummy, but had more layers.

I added a tomato base with "smoky" marinara sauce to balance the sweetness of the pumpkin, goats cheese and ricotta with something a little more savoury. I also added a layer of hard cheese over the top to give that crisp top that Lasagne is synonymous with.

I think that this is probably one of my favourite dishes that I have ever made. I agree with Nigella - this is a dish created out of gluttony - it is a real rich, creamy, luxurious treat and the multitude of different textures and flavours are fantastic.

The whole family enjoyed this dish - and I hope you will too, it just screams comfort food on a cold Autumn day. I also think that this would make a great main course for an Autumn or Winter inspired feast, or occasion such as Thanksgiving or Christmas. I will definitely be making this again over the coming months!

Pumpkin, Goats Cheese, and Spinach Lasagne with Smoky Marinara Sauce

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Ingredients:

To make the sauce:

1 tbsp Olive Oil

3 garlic cloves, crushed,

2 tsp dried Oregano

2 tsp dried Basil

2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

¼ tsp Salt

¼ tsp Pepper

2 x tin of Chopped Tomatoes

3 tbsp Tomato Puree

For the Lasagne

1 tbsp Olive Oil

2 x Onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed,

750g – 1kg Pumpkin, cut into small squares

200g Fresh Spinach

200g Goats Cheese, chopped

250g Ricotta Cheese

1tsp Salt

1tsp Pepper

2 large eggs, whisked

12 sheets of Lasagne

200g Vegetarian Italian Hard Cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200°c. Scoop the seeds out of the pumpkin, and cut the pumpkin into small slices or chunks. Spread the pumpkin in a baking tray and mix with olive oil, salt and pepper until evenly coated. Cook in the middle of the oven for around 20-30 minutes, or until soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, begin to cook the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the garlic, oregano and basil and stir well. Add the vinegar, salt and pepper, tomato puree and tinned tomatoes to the pan and allow to boil. Reduce the heat and then simmer for 10-20 mins.  Remove from heat once cooked.

Next, in a separate saucepan, heat the olive oil over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for around five minutes, or until the onions are golden. Add the spinach and put on the saucepan lid for around a minute, allowing the spinach to wilt. Give the contents of the saucepan a good stir.

Place the eggs, ricotta, goat’s cheese, salt and pepper in a large bowl, and add the onion and spinach mixture. Stir everything together until thoroughly combined. Add water or milk to make a slightly wetter consistency if required. You could also add some hard cheese to this mixture.

Once the pumpkin is cooked, begin to assemble the lasagne in layers in the following order:

Tomato Sauce

Lasagne Sheets

Cheese Mixture

Pumpkin pieces

Repeat this process twice

Next, add a layer of tomato if you have any left, and a layer of the cheese mixture to finish. Sprinkle Italian hard cheese over the top of the dish, and decorate with any remaining spinach leaves.

Cover the dish with foil, and cook at 200°c for around 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the foil, and continue to cook for a further 15 – 20 minutes.