I’ve been making this lasagne for years and my partner (a vegetarian herself) has badgered me for a long time to share the recipe here at Food on the Blog. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long…but lucky for you I’m giving you probably the best vegetarian lasagne recipe you’ll ever make!

The marriage of sweet butternut squash and creamy Parmesan laden ricotta is nothing short of sublime. With its hit of rich tomato sauce and crispy Parmesan topping…I can tell your mouth is watering already, so let’s get on and make it.

Butternut Squash & Ricotta Lasagne

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 x Italian Tomato Sauce*
• 1 x Butternut Squash
• 500g x Ricotta
• 150ml x double Cream
• 400g x Parmesan
• 250g x Spinach
• 1 x Pack Pasta Lasagne Sheets
• 1 x Whole Nutmeg
• Salt

Method

*Click the link to make a batch of Italian Tomato Sauce

Peel and dice your butternut squash and boil in salted water until tender. Drain and put back in the pan, add salt and about 6-7 grates of nutmeg. Mash thoroughly and set aside. Taste for seasoning and adjust if you need to…we want a nice hint of nutmeg and not for it to become overpowering.

In a large bowl add you ricotta and half the Parmesan. Mix together well, add the cream bit by bit as the consistency should smooth but nowhere near runny. Taste it – we want rich, creamy ricotta flavour with a back hint of Parmesan, add more Parmesan if you need (or want) to.

In a deep baking dish spread half of your tomato sauce evenly across the bottom. Now add a layer of lasagne sheets.

TIP: Don’t snap your lasagne sheets, it never works. Instead if you need to adjust the shape drop them into a dish full of boiling water after 1 minute remove and place on a chopping board and carefully cut to the required shape.

On the layer of pasta sheets carefully spread out half of you ricotta mix. Start from the middle and work your way firmly but slowly to the edges.

Once done layer half of your fresh spinach onto the ricotta. Now I know what you’re thinking…

“That’s way too much!”

Trust me it isn’t, it will collapse during cooking.

Give the spinach a good seasoning of salt.

Add a layer of lasagne sheets on top of the spinach and spread all of your butternut squash in a nice thick and even layer over them.

Now reverse the process:

• Lasange sheets
• Ricotta mix
• Spinach
• Lasagne sheets
• Tomato sauce

Simply top the tomato sauce with a good layer of Parmesan and you are ready.

Place in preheated oven at 180C (350F or Gas Mark 4) for about 45 minutes. Keep checking and if you need to, cover the top with foil to stop it looking overdone.

Now tuck in!

I know you are going to love this recipe so please remember to tell me how it worked for you in the comments below.

Michael Robinson

Author information

The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

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The post Butternut Squash & Ricotta Lasagne Recipe appeared first on Food on the Blog. Post by The Food Curator

Just head down to your local supermarket and have a look at the stacks of premade sauce in a bottle. That will give you an idea of just how much of the stuff people buy day to day, yet none of those sauces can come close to the recipe below.

Here I am going to show you the most simple and easy to make version, yet this wonderfully delicious sauce will take your next pasta dish to new heights of tastiness.

Although the ingredients are simple and the method straight forward the one thing we are going to give this recipe is a little time. This is a recipe to enjoy making, savouring each step knowing that the finished product is well, well worth it.

OK let’s do it!

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 10 x TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 x 400g Can of Plum Tomatoes in Juice
• 1 x Medium Onion
• 4 x Cloves of Garlic
• 1 x Handful of Fresh Basil
• 1 x TSP Dried Basil
• ½ x TSP Sea Salt
• ½ x TSP Ground Black Pepper

Optional

• 1 x TSP Dried Oregano
• 1 x Handful of Fresh Oregano
• 1 x Small Pinch of Sugar

Method

Finely dice the onion. Add the olive oil and onion to a large thick bottomed saucepan and put on a low heat. We don’t want a sizzle here as we want the onions to gently soften and let out their wonderful sweetness.

Stir occasionally until the onions are translucent about 5-7 minutes. The best way to check them is to simply try a piece. It should be so soft it dissolves in the mouth.

Keeping the onions on the heat add your very thinly sliced garlic to the pan or crush the cloves straight in.

Stir in for a minute or two, the strong smell of garlic will soften and become a sweet, savoury fragrance.

If using whole plum tomatoes put them in a bowl and crush them up by hand before adding them to the pan, not only does it feel sooo satisfying, the broken up tomatoes will make life easier during the next stage. Of course if you are using chopped tomatoes just pour them straight in!

Add your dried herbs immediately. As for the fresh basil take off the leaves and roll them up together so you get a bunch about the thickness of your thumb, then finely slice them then add them to your sauce.

Add the salt and pepper and stir everything together well.

Leave the saucepan with the lid off and keep the pan on a low heat so the sauce is just simmering. We want the sauce to reduce by at least one third of its volume.

This can take around 30 minutes, so make sure you stir occasionally and as you do gently break up those larger pieces of tomato with the back of your spoon. We don’t want a puree, but then we don’t want a chunky sauce either.

Once reduced you should have a deep red, pourable rich sauce.

Now is the time to taste

Some canned tomatoes can be a little tart, if you find your sauce is suffering from this then add the small pinch of sugar stir in well and taste again.

Season with salt and pepper to taste should you require.

Now serve with your favourite pasta or turn it into Bolognese, lasagne, etc.

Remember to tell me how this sauce worked out for you in the comments below!

Michael Robinson

Author information

The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

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The post Easy Authentic Italian Tomato Sauce appeared first on Food on the Blog. Post by The Food Curator

It is a bit of an easy, cheesy present I admit, and I do feel it’s a bit of a copout especially when I go round to the recipient’s houses and see the said cook book proudly displayed on their shelf but it looks like it has never even been opened. As if the guilt of buying them the book in the first place isn’t enough, now I’m thinking I misjudged their tastes and bought them a book that they don’t like.

For example I have one friend who I noticed had an almost complete set of the Nigel Slater books, so that was easy I thought, just buy the latest one in the series. When I next went over to see them my book was there on his shelf in sequence with the others but I noticed none had been visibly used…like James Bond I cunningly mentioned that I had bought him one of the books for Christmas and got to have a little look through his collection, his perfect, unmarked, mint condition, ready for auction at Sotheby’s collection.

Is it just me or is it that the millions of cook books from famous chefs, restaurants, TV shows or other styles that have been sold are just simply lifestyle props which never actually get a good outing in the kitchen? I do fear that a vast majority of these books bought lovingly as presents have become mere decorations. It would be completely pointless but at least a little interesting to know if there is a cook book out there that sold in thousands but no one ever cooked anything from them

You see I am guilty of this too, and whether subconscious or not, but there is something great about having a latest book to publically display your prowess in the kitchen. I have more than a few which I think I have made one or two recipes from and then they have been laid to rest like some museum piece for cultural reference only.

Now the ones which are most important to me are the books which are a bit dog eared and have the odd splash, splat and stain on them, like scars telling the story of their duty on the kitchen front. These are not the ones for public display and are more likely to be hidden away in a dark cupboard almost in shame.

But wait, surely I have got this wrong?

I should have the ones which have seen years of use and abuse displayed in full view, that would surely be a better example of how I do get it on in the kitchen. I have a Madhur Jaffrey book which has been in used for many decades and some of it is now almost unreadable, another favourite of mine are the Donna Hay (for Australian Marie Claire) Cooking and Dining books which have both had a hard life in the kitchen. Then there’s my old school 1970’s Italian Cooking book which tells you how to make every classic dish and I think I have done them all…at least twice!

I won’t be buying anyone a cook book for Christmas this year, I have however seen a few that would look so good on my bookshelf

Do you have a cook book you have never used? Was it a gift or an impulse buy? Or do have a kitchen bible which you just can’t live without? Please share!

Michael Robinson

Author information

The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

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The post Left on the shelf this Christmas appeared first on Food on the Blog. Post by The Food Curator