Spinach & Cheese Lasagne

When it comes to food, I believe, people are divided into two - ones who eat to live and ones who live to eat, I obviously belong to the latter. Taking my love for food further I thought of penning down the experiments in my kitchen. 

Being an amateur blogger and cook, please feel free to post any comments, tips, queries that you may have.

So yesterday I made this Spinach & Cheese lasagne for dinner. A successful & delicious attempt.

Serves 4. Preparation Time: 20 - 30 mins. Baking Time: 20 mins  

Ingredients:

For Lasagne:

6 readymade lasagne sheets

For Spinach Filling:

1 1/2 cup washed & finely chopped spinach

1 cup grated cottage cheese (paneer)

3 - 4 spring onions (shallots) finely chopped

3 tbsp shallot greens

2 garlic cloves

2 tsp grated ginger

1 tbsp crushed green chillies

2 tbsp Olive Oil

Salt & pepper as per taste

For Tomato Sauce: 

3 medium sized tomatoes, blanched

1/2 cup cream 

3 cloves garlic

3-4 basil leaves

1 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp oregano

2 tbsp capsico sauce or red tobasco sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp red chilli powder

Salt as per taste

For Cheese Sauce:

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp wheat flour, sifted

1 1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup grated cheese (Cheddar)

For Garnish:

3 tbsp grated cheese

2-3 basil leaves

Method:

Lasagne Sheet

1. Take enough water in a deep & wide vessel and bring it to a boil. Now add some salt & oil and add the lasagne sheets. Let it cook for about 10 mins. Alternatively, follow the instructions on the packet. Once cooked, drain and gently run through cold water and set aside. 

* Readymade lasagne sheets enlarge after boiling. 

Spinach filling:

2. Take the onions and garlic and finely chop them. I have used a chopper. Chop the greens as well. 

 

2. Similarly chop the well washed spinach and grate the cottage cheese.

 

3. Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté the onions, garlic & shallot greens. 

4. Then add the ginger & crushed green chillies. 

5. Add the spinach and salt and let it reduce. Once reduced, add the grated cottage cheese and pepper. Cook for about 3-4 mins till the water from spinach has reduced. Keep aside.

Tomato Sauce:

6. Now for the tomato sauce, roughly chop the tomatoes and add in a blender/mixer/chopper. 

Add to it cream, garlic, basil, capsico sauce, ketchup, oregano,red chilli powder, sugar, salt & pepper and blend them. We don't want a smooth purée so make sure its mixed well and rough in texture. 

Transfer the same to another vessel and bring to a boil. Keep aside.

Cheese Sauce:

7. For the cheese sauce, take some butter in a pan. Let it melt completely and then add the wheat flour stirring continuously to avoid any lumps. The colour will start changing and we now add the milk gradually, stirring the mixture simultaneously for a smooth sauce. The sauce will begin to thicken. Now add the grated cheese, salt & pepper.

8. Remove from heat and keep aside as it tends to thicken while cooling.

Placement & Baking:

9. Now, grease your baking dish with butter. and spread a spoonful of tomato sauce.  You could also place basil leaves for added flavour.

10. Now place the lasagne sheets to cover your vessel. Evenly spread the spinach mixture over it followed by some cheese sauce. 

11. Cover it with lasagne sheet again and repeat Step 10. 

12. Cover with lasagne sheet again and coat thoroughly with the tomato sauce. Garnish it with grated cheese and basil. 

13. Bake in a preheated oven for 20 mins at 220°C for first 10 mins and balance at 200°C.

Baking time can differ depending on the oven and heating.

14. Serve hot with some garlic bread & soup.

Notes & Tips:

1. Please remember to decide the baking vessel as the number of sheets and layers shall vary accordingly. 

You can also make the lasagne sheets at home and substitute. 

2. To make it more authentic, you can also substitute cottage cheese aka paneer for ricotta cheese.

2. Following is an easy & quick method for blanching tomatoes.

In a deep vessel bring the water to a boil. Meanwhile, wash the tomatoes & cut a cross on its bottom. Once the water begins to boil, drop in the tomatoes. Let it sit for about 5 mins & drain. 

Now peel the skin and use. 

   3. For Jains:

In the spinach filling skip the onions and garlic. Firstly sauté the ginger green chilli paste and then add the cabbage (1/4 cup, chopped) & spinach. Add salt & let it cook until the water burns out. Add paneer and adjust the remaining spices as per taste. 

For the tomato gravy, simply skip the garlic and increase the basil to 5-6 leaves and proceed.

The Jain version tastes equally delicious!