Vegetarian Pumpkin and Silverbeet Lasagne with Ricotta

I love lasagne. It is one of my favourite comfort dishes - but there's a catch: I don't like very creamy or cheesy lasagne. Bechemel sauce is a no-no, I much prefer tomato sauce based lasagnes. I think it's because I have a lactose intolerance and have avoided cream sauces since childhood because they made me feel quite sick, and it wasn't until I was in my teens that I tried a lasagne I liked. As with most Italian pasta dishes, there is room for variations on the theme through different regional influences. The tastiest meat lasagne I have baked to date used gravy beef cooked in a pressure cooker with fresh tomatoes, which I based on the traditional ragu-style of rustic tough cuts slow cooked to pull-apart tenderness.

While I am a part-time meat eater, I am very aware of the impacts meat consumption has on the environment at large and my heath. I like to take dishes and convert them into vegetarian-friendly meals which not only gives me a higher nutritional intake, but it also helps the hip pocket. 

In this post you'll see a vegetarian lasagne that uses less pasta by substituting sliced pumpkin, making the glycemic index of this dish a very low one. The carbs come from the pasta and also from the red lentils added to the tomato sauce. The vegetable count is six per serve (onion, carrot, celery, pumpkin, silverbeet, tomato) and protein is provided by the lentils, the ricotta, and the cheese topping. All in all it is a really balanced meal that will satisfy even the most dedicated meat eaters. Did I mention it's also incredibly delicious?

Below the pics you'll find the recipe and directions on how to freeze this dish, along with a costing of the whole thing and individual portions. Keep some handy in the freezer for those nights you get home late, or keep some in reserve for family or friends that need a gift of food when they're sick. I promise, you won't even be able to tell it's been frozen. Best of all? each serve costs $1.25.

Sliced pumpkin, washed silverbeet and ricotta cheese

Tomato and red lentil sauce

Sliced pumpkin layer

Silverbeet and ricotta layer

Topped with sliced pumpkin

Top layer is tomato sauce and mozzerella and pecorino cheese

Vegetarian Lasagne

Ready for the freezer

Recipe

Makes 12 serves

Cooking time 1.5 hours

Ingredients

olive oil

1 brown onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 sticks of celery, chopped

3 cans of whole peeled tomatoes

1 cup of red lentils

1 half of a Jap pumpkin, peeled, seeded and sliced into thin pieces

1 large bunch of silverbeet, washed and stalks removed

600 grams of dry ricotta cheese (from the deli)

1 packet of large lasagne sheets (250 grams)

1 cup of mozzerella cheese, grated

1/4 cup of pecorino cheese, grated

Method

In a large saucepan heat olive oil and fry off brown onion for 2 mins. Add the celery and carrot and cook for a further 4 mins, until vegetables are softened. Add the canned tomatoes and 4 or 5 canfulls of water. Add to this the red lentils and bring to the boil for 20 mins, until lentils are cooked.

Preheat the oven to 200C.

In a large backing pan with deep sides spoon in the tomato sauce so it covers the bottom of the pan in a layer. Add a layer of dried lasagne sheets, topped with another layer of tomato sauce. Ontop of this lay the sliced pumpkin so it covers the whole area. Top the pumpkin with the silverbeet, making a thick layer. Top this with large chunks of the ricotta cheese and then top with more pumpkin. Add a layer of tomato sauce, followed by lasagne sheets, and top everything with a layer of tomato sauce. Sprinkle with cheese, cover with aluminium foil and bake in hot oven for 35 mins. Remove foil and bake for a further 10 mins.

Lasagne will have dropped in height because as the silverbeet cooks it looses its structure and collapses.

Breakdown of layers (bottom to top)

tomato sauce

dried lasagne

tomato sauce

pumpkin

silverbeet

ricotta

pumpkin

tomato sauce

dried lasagne sheets

tomato sauce

mozzerella and pecorino

To Freeze

After lasagne is cooked, let it cool at room temperature for an hour and then place in the refrigerator for 12 hours. Cooling the lasagne makes it easier to cut as it holds its shape better than if it's cut hot. Cut lasagne into 12 serves, and ready 12 large sheets of baking paper and 12 large sheets of aluminium foil. Place one serve of lasagne onto baking paper and wrap it securely, then wrap in alfoil - this double wrapping minimises freezer burn. You can opt to place each foil-wrapped serve into zip-loc bags to further reduce freezer burn. Label and date lasagne and freeze. Keeps in the freezer for up to 3 months.

You can also freeze the whole lasagne if you won't be needing the baking dish in the meantime. Simply wrap the whole dish, top and bottom with cling wrap and cover again with alfoil to minimise freezer burn. 

To defrost both individual and whole lasagne, take out and leave in the fridge the night before, and re-heat by your favourite method. I prefer using the oven to re-heat, but this can dry the lasagne out a bit. 

Costing

I weighed the ingredients and kept receipts of everything I used in order to make a costing of this dish . The total ingredients in cost $15.10 and each serve costs $1.25 or thereabouts. I did use up some lasagne sheets I had in the pantry and made a guess at the cost of a cup of red lentils (guess is around .20c).  

Spinach and Ricotta Scones

A perfect afternoon-tea-nom!

Last week I bought quite a bit of fresh ricotta cheese and I really needed to use it before it turned bad. In the past I've had great results with ricotta in savoury scones so I decided to try and develop some Low GI ones. The use of wholemeal flour and oat bran help lower the glycemic index of these scones, as does the use of ricotta cheese itself - it has a extremely low carb load but lots of protein which helps you feel fuller for longer.

Recipe

Makes 12 scones
Cooking time 30 mins

Ingredients

3 cups wholemeal flour + enough for dusting/cutting
1 cup oat bran
8 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
80 grams butter, cut into small cubes
2 portions of frozen spinach, defrosted and excess moisture removed
330 grams fresh ricotta cheese from the deli
2 tablespoons grated romano pecorino cheese
1 cup or milk (or near enough)

Wholemeal flour plus oat bran = Low GI

Method

Preheat oven to 200C.

Add wholemeal flour, oat bran, baking powder and salt to a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the butter cubes and work into the flour mix with your finger tips, making sure all the butter is rubbed in. The mix should begin to resemble breadcrumbs. 

Add the squeezed spinach to the mix in small pieces, tearing it with your fingers. On top of this add the ricotta cheese in large-ish chunks, followed by the grated romano cheese. Mix everything together using a blunt butter knife. Add the milk gradually and mix with the blunt butter knife until no pockets of flour are left in the mix. Be wary of adding too much milk - you want the mix to bind, but not to become too wet. If you don't use the whole cup, that's fine. If you use a little more, that's fine too.

Tip out dough onto a floured surface and gently work into a large circle by shaping the edges with your palms and gently shifting the dough on the board to make sure it doesn't stick. Once you have the edges shaped, press gently and firmly with flat hands on the top of the dough to make it a uniform height. It's really important that you don't press too hard and make them too flat - the end result will be a tough, chewy scone.

When dough is uniform you are ready for cutting. Use a medium scone cutter or free-cut with a blunt knife into squares - whatever works for you.

Place cut scones on a baking tray and bake at 200C for 20 mins. You can tell scones are cooked when you tap on them with a finger and they sound hollow.

Scones can be frozen up to 2 months. If eating them once they've been frozen, defrost in fridge overnight and then refresh them in the microwave for 10 seconds.

After the butter is rubbed in - it looks like breadcrumbs

The spinach, grated romano and ricotta cheese sitting on top of the flour mix

After mixing together with a butter knife

The mix after adding and mixing in the milk

The dough turned out on to the bench

Shaping the edges

Pressing gently

Ready for cutting

Dip your cutter in flour between each cut to help minimise sticking

Ready for the oven

Enjoy with a cup of tea (or coffee)

Individual Breakfast Frittatas (and batter muffins)

Today I wanted to make some breakfasts for the week to come. I decided on individual frittatas and bought the ingredients I wanted. I meant to make a batch of 12, but I neglected to get two cartons of eggs at the store. I prepared 12 muffin cases and whisked my eggs . . . . and only had enough to fill six of the muffin cups.

Carlos volunteered to cycle to the store really quickly, but then I had an idea - what about a simple batter for the other six? I thought a Yorkshire pudding batter would do the trick - it's basically flour, egg and milk. I had two lonely little eggs left so that's what I did.

While the full egg frittatas are low GI, the batter muffins are medium to high GI because of the flour and although I did use wholemeal flour, it's still medium GI. It wont be as high a GI count as with plain white flour, but it's not as great as with just egg.

I'm freezing these little ones off, and will be able to report on freezability in a few day's time.

Ready to eat, portion controlled breakfast (or lunch, or afternoon snack)

Recipe - Egg Frittatas

Makes 6 frittatas

Ingredients

1 small white salad onion, chopped
1 small red capsicum, chopped
frozen spinach, thawed and excess liquid squeezed out
ricotta cheese
8 600g eggs
tasty cheddar cheese
large 6 hole muffin tin, muffin liners

Method

Pre-heat oven to 200C.

In a large six hole muffin tin with liners, place pieces of capsicum, onion, frozen spinach and ricotta cheese in layers in each muffin cup.

In a bowl, grate some tasty cheese and crack the eggs in. Whisk together and then pour mix into the muffin cups.

Bake in a 200C oven for 20 - 30 mins, until set.

Starting off with capsicums . . .

Then added white salad onion and spinach

Topping that all off with ricotta

Recipe - Savoury Batter Muffins

Makes 6 "muffins"

Ingredients

1 small white salad onion, chopped
1 small red capsicum, chopped
frozen spinach, thawed and excess liquid squeezed out
ricotta cheese
tasty cheddar cheese
1 cup wholemeal flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk (at a guess)
large 6 hole muffin tin, muffin liners

Method

Pre-heat oven to 200C.

In a large six hole muffin tin with liners, place pieces of capsicum, onion, frozen spinach and ricotta cheese in layers in each muffin cup.

In a bowl, grate some tasty cheese and crack the 2 eggs in. Add whole meal flour and milk and stir until mixed into a smooth batter. Pour mix into the muffin cups.

Bake in a 200C oven for 20 - 30 mins, until set.

The egg frittatas are on the left, the batter muffins to the right, prior to baking

Finished egg frittatas

egg frittatas on the left, batter muffins on the right

The batter muffins close up