Spinach and Ricotta Lasagne
with Toasted Pine Nuts
Today we’re taking you into the underground world of ‘reverse engineering’. A clandestine art practised by industrial spies, it usually involves somebody taking a new gadget apart and working out how it was made, so they can copy it. Head Chef Patrick likes to see himself as an upstanding member of society, but when he went to a dinner party recently and the chef refused to give up the secret of her spinach and ricotta lasagne, I think we all know what happened next. He’s still finding pine nuts in his jacket pocket to this day.
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the war in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
Ingredients
1
Garlic Clove
1
Shallot
1.5
Pine Nuts
1
Chopped Tomatoes
2
Dried Italian Herbs
1
Baby Spinach
1
Ricotta Cheese
½
Lasagne Sheets
(Contains Cereals containing gluten, Egg)
2
Grated Hard Italian Style Cheese
(Contains Milk, Egg)
Nutritional information
Utensils
Instructions
Peel and finely dice the garlic and the shallot. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees.
Once the oven is hot put the pine nuts on a baking tray. Put the baking tray in the oven for 2 mins to brown them off. Tip: Keep an eye on your nuts as they can burn very easily.
Heat 2 tsp of olive oil in a nonstick pan on medium heat. Once hot add in the garlic and cook for a minute. Mix in the tomatoes, the Italian herbs, ¼ tsp salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Add ¼ tsp of sugar (if you have some) and cook on low heat until the sauce thickens.
Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil on medium-high heat in the largest pan you have. Once hot, tip in the spinach and put a lid on for 1 minute. Take off the lid and give the spinach a good stir and cook for 1 more minute. Transfer the spinach to a colander and leave on the side.
In a bowl mix the ricotta with 1 tbsp of very finely diced shallot and ¼ tsp of salt. Once the spinach is cool, squeeze every last drop of water out with your hands. Tip: Or you can squeeze it dry in a kitchen towel. Chop the spinach very finely and then mix it thoroughly into the ricotta mixture.
Lightly coat the bottom of an ovenproof dish with some olive oil and put a layer of lasagne on the bottom. Spread ¼ of your ricotta and spinach mixture onto the pasta and sprinkle over ¼ of the pine nuts. Spread ⅓ of your tomato sauce across the ricotta. Put a layer of pasta on the top to cover everything.
Repeat the process until you have used all of the ingredients. Tip: You want to end by spreading ¼ of the ricotta mixture and the pine nuts on the very top. Sprinkle over some grated hard Italian cheese and put in the oven for 30 mins.
