Rachael Clarke has a full life with horses to say the least. With 30 horses at Tarcoola Equestrian Centre to care for, including her own competition horses, plus clients’ lessons and then a husband and two children to look after, her passion for producing great food has started to take a spot on the back burner. However, despite her hectic life she still likes a glass of wine and to cook!
Being a vegetarian, it’s always hard to produce a meal that suits the whole family — including herself. An absolute favourite is this vegetable lasagne and this can be made in a decent quantity and saved for a second go. The whole family enjoys this recipe and it’s easy to create.
Rachael has been a vegetarian since she was 13. Her culinary skills when it comes to delicious food, and vegetarianism, is quite amazing and with ease she can produce a super tasty spread without any trouble. Just another skill for this thrill-seeking dressage mountaineer!
When making this lasagne, Rachael likes to put her cooked pumpkin in a blender with the ricotta to create a savoury smoothie, but you might just want to squash it with a wooden spoon if you prefer some chunky bits. Rachael uses both a simple bechamel sauce mix and ricotta, but a short-cut version could use either one or the other, just add more. Baby spinach leaves are easy to add, but any leftover cooked greens could also be thrown in.
INGREDIENTS:
1kg pumpkin (any variety) peeled, seeds removed and cut into 3cm pieces
60g butter
¼ cup plain flour
3 cups milk, slightly warmed in micro
125g tasty cheese, grated
300g fresh ricotta
2tbs grated parmesan
1 bunch chives, chopped
120g baby spinach leaves
1 egg, beaten
Salt & pepper
300-400g fresh or instant lasagne sheets
METHOD:
1. Preheat oven on to 200°C (180°C fan-forced), and lightly grease a medium lasagne dish.
2. Add pumpkin to large saucepan, bring to boil and cook for about 8 minutes until tender, drain and put aside to cool.
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over a low heat; when bubbling, add flour and whisk or stir to combine for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and slowly add milk, whisking until smooth. Return to heat, whisking, until it returns to simmer and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in most of the cheese (reserving some for final sprinkling).
4. Put pumpkin and ricotta in a food processor and process briefly. Transfer to a bowl and stir in parmesan, chives, extra milk and egg and season to taste.
5. With a wooden spoon, spread some of pumpkin mixture over the base of your cooking dish. Top with lasagne sheets then spoon more pumpkin over evenly. Top with about 1/3rd of the spinach and drizzle a thin layer of cheese sauce. Repeat layers, ending with the sauce. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, freshly ground pepper and grated nutmeg (optional) to taste.
6. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden. Stand for 10 minutes before serving with a simple crispy green salad. EQ
