Pumpkin & spinach lasagna
Pumpkin season has started already a month ago but I’m still going strong on all things pumpkin because it is SO good! Here I present you my super easy and delicious pumpkin lasagna with layers of spinach, vegan bechamel, pumpkin and parmesan, all vegan ofc.
How to make lasagna.
If you’ve not yet made lasagna, how could you not? I guess it’s because it seems a lot of work right? Well you are wrong, or for the great part, lasagna is actually super easy, yes it might take some time to prepare all together but none of the steps to make this pumpkin lasagna are difficult so I strongly recommend you give it a try.
The basic steps to make a lasagna are prep the fillings, make the bechamel and assemble.
For this recipe you sautee the pumpkin with courgette, sage and garlic in lots of olive oil until nice and tender. Half of this mixture gets pureed and the other half you set aside. Then you make the bechamel, which is very easy, and then you assemble.
Serves 8 people
Ingredients
1 small hokkaido pumpkin or butternut, chopped into 1 cm cubes, I keep the skin on for extra texture
1 courgette, chopped into 1 cm cubes
100 ml of olive oil, or more to taste
2 garlic cloves, minced
5-10 fresh sage leaves
1 bag of fresh spinach (200gr)
2x 1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper
1 box (500gr) lasagna noodles
3 tbs of vegan butter
3-4 tbs of all purpose flour
500-700ml of plant based milk
Vegan gondino parmesan, grated
How to
Start by heating up the olive oil in a frying pan.
Add the pumpkin, courgette and sage leaves. Fry until soft and slightly caramalized, stirring occasionally. This should take about 20 minutes.
Once done add the garlic and remove from the heat.
Puree half of the pumpkin mixture and set the other half aside. You might need to add a little water or olive oil to create a velvety, smooth puree. It should also be a bit on the runny side so the lasagna is not dry.
Make the bechamel by adding the butter to a pot, melt and then add the flour. With a whisk stir vigorously until butter and flour are combined and formed a paste. Let this paste cook for 1 minute or so before adding the milk.
Little by little, add the milk to the roux, whisking constantly until all the milk is added. Keep whisking until you have a smooth sauce. Continue to cook for 5-10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Again here you could add more milk if it’s too thick. You want a runny bechamel to have a juicy lasagna.
Preheat the oven to 180°C and assemble the lasagna. I used 2, 20x15cm baking dishes.
Start by pouring a layer of bechamel onto the bottom of your baking dish.
Followed by a layer of pasta, pumpkin puree, pumpkin/courgette chunks, parmesan, a fresh spinach and another layer of bechamel.
Repeat with a layer of pasta and the next steps of number 9 until the baking dish is full.
Make sure to finish with a layer of bechamel on top.
Add some more parmesan on the top and cover with tin foil.
Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Remove the tin foil half way.
Buon appetito!
