Given to me by a very good friend, Nikki, this is a dish that both veggies and meat eaters will love.
When our children were young, Nikki used to make this for us when we visited and it always went down a treat with kids and adults alike. Unlike some lasagne’s it’s fairly quick to make, so you won’t need to set aside half a day to prepare it!
It can be made 48 hours in advance. Cool and then keep covered in the fridge.
It’s a real crowd pleaser when we have guests and I always serve it with a simple dressed green salad.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil, Olive or Rapeseed
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 500g mushrooms, sliced
- 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
- 30g plain flour
- 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 500g frozen whole leaf spinach, thawed and drained
- 150g mature cheddar, grated
- 150g pre-cooked lasagne sheets
For the White Sauce
- 50g butter
- 50g plain flour
- 600ml semi-skimmed milk
- 1tsp dijon mustard
Method
- Heat the oil in a large pan or wok, add the onion and cook gently for 3-5 minutes until softened. Next add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds before adding the chopped mushrooms. Continue to fry for 5 minutes.
- Add the flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, basil, sugar, salt and pepper and cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Make the white sauce*.
- Next, season the spinach with salt and pepper then take 1 teaspoon at a time and shape it loosely into 24 balls.
- Spoon 1/3 of the mushroom mixture into a large ovenproof dish and place 8 spinach balls on top.
- Cover with 1/3 of the white sauce and 1/3 cheese and arrange lasagne sheets on top.
- Repeat layers finishing with a layer of cheese.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200oC/180 Fan/Gas 6 for 35 minutes or until the pasta is tender.
- Leave to stand for 10 minutes to firm up slightly before serving.
- Enjoy!
*White sauce
I like to use Delia’s “all in one” method for making a white sauce as it is generally quicker and doesn’t end up lumpy!
- In a clean saucepan, add the milk along with the butter, flour and seasoning and gradually bring up to a simmer over a medium heat, whisking continuously with a balloon whisk, until the sauce has thickened and become smooth and glossy.
- Then turn the heat down to the lowest possible setting and let the sauce cook gently for 5 minutes to take the raw taste out of the flour, stirring from time to time.