Pumpkin and sweet leek lasagne

Pumpkin and leeks make a lovely veggie filling for lasagne, and to be honest, this one is so delicious meat eaters will love it too.

serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

• • 1 medium pumpkin (approximately 1kg)
• • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• • olive oil
• • 2 cloves of garlic
• • 1 small bunch of fresh basil
• • 3 x 400g tins tomatoes
• • 4 leeks
• • 200g baby spinach
• • 500g ricotta cheese
• • 250g dry lasagne sheets
• • 1 x 125g ball of fresh mozzarella
• • 100g Parmesan cheese

To prepare your squash

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• Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5
• Carefully halve the pumpkin, then scoop out the seeds with a spoon and discard
• Chop the pumpkin into 3cm chunks, leaving the peel on but removing any thick skin
• Place the pumpkin in a baking dish, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper and drizzle well with olive oil, then toss together
• Cook in the hot oven for 1 hour, or until soft and cooked through

To make your tomato sauce

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• Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves
• Pick the basil leaves, discard the stalks
• Put a saucepan on a medium heat

To make your tomato sauce

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• Add a lug of olive oil, the chopped garlic and basil leaves
• Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring often, until the garlic turns golden
• At this point, add the tinned tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and leave to simmer for 10 minutes

To make your creamy leeks

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• Trim and finely slice the leeks
• Wash the spinach
• Heat a large saucepan on a low heat and add a splash of olive oil
• Add the leeks and sweat slowly for about 10 minutes, or until lovely and soft

To make your creamy leeks

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• Add the spinach and cook for another minute or two until wilted
• Remove from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes, then carefully drain off any excess liquid
• Mix the ricotta into the pan and season well with salt and pepper

To make your lasagne

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• Spoon a quarter of the tomato sauce into the bottom of an earthenware ovenproof dish (approximately 25cm by 35cm)
• Follow with a layer of lasagne sheets
• Spread half of the creamy leeks over the lasagne sheets and poke in half of the chunks of pumpkin, then top with a third of the remaining tomato sauce

To make your lasagne

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• Cover with another layer of lasagne sheets, then cover with the remaining creamy leeks and pieces of pumpkin
• Top with half the remaining tomato sauce and a final layer of lasagne sheets
• Spoon the remaining tomato sauce on top in an even layer

To make your lasagne

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• Tear the mozzarella into small pieces and dot over the top of the lasagne
• Finely grate the Parmesan over the top
• Cover with foil and cook in the hot oven for 20 minutes
• After that, remove the foil and cook for another 20 minutes, or until the lasagne is golden and bubbling
• Serve with a fresh green salad (see Simple green salad with French dressing)