The sauce you have to make for this vegetarian lasagne is more than you’ll need. You can use the leftovers to make a simple pasta dish (see below). The vegetarian lasagne is perfect for hitting your 5-a-day and it makes a fantastic family meal for four. Since it’s just two of us, I enjoyed the leftovers for lunch the day after…

I have adapted the recipe below from Waitrose magazine, issue September 2019.

More with aubergines: Potato and aubergine curry | Charred Aubergine, pepper and bulgur salad | Melanzane Parmigiana with Green Salad

Ricotta, Spinach & Aubergine Lasagne

Serves 4 | Prep 20 mins | Cook 1hr
Easy | Vegetarian

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You’ll need:

  • 3 aubergines, cut into 2cm chunks;
  • 2 tbsp olive oil;
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced;
  • ½-1 tsp chilli flakes;
  • 3 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes;
  • 2 tsp capers, roughly chopped;
  • 20g basil, leaves torn;
  • 250g ricotta;
  • pinch of nutmeg;
  • 250g frozen spinach, defrosted and drained in a sieve;
  • pack of fresh lasagne sheets;
  • 10g Parmesan, or vegetarian alternative
  • green salad, to serve.

Preheat the oven to 220˚C/ 200˚C fan/ gas mark 7. On a baking tray, toss the aubergines with 1 tbsp oil then season. Roast for 15-20 minutes until turning golden.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan, add the garlic and chilli flakes and cook gently for 5 minutes to soften. Tip in the tomatoes and capers, bring to the boil, then turn down and simmer gently for 20 minutes. As soon as the aubergine is ready, add to the tomato sauce and simmer until the sauce has thickened and the aubergine is soft (5-10 minutes).  Stir in the basil and season. Turn down the oven to 200˚C/ 180˚C fan/ gas mark 6. You only need 2/3rds of the sauce, so put 1/3 aside in Tupperware – you can freeze or make the Spaghetti meal for 2 suggested below.

While the tomato sauce is cooking, mix the ricotta, spinach and a pinch of nutmeg in a bowl. Season.

In the base of a small oven dish (about 18cm x 28cm) spread 1/3 of the tomato sauce, top it with a single layer of fresh lasagne sheets, then spread the spinach and ricotta mixture on top, followed by another layer of pasta. Top with another 1/3rd of the tomato sauce. Sprinkle over freshly grated Parmesan (or vegetarian alternative) and bake for 30-35 mins. Serve with a green salad.

What to do with the leftovers:

Cook 180g spaghetti until al dente, as per pack instructions. Warm up the tomato sauce and mix  through the drained spaghetti. Top with a few torn basil leaves and grated Parmesan (or vegetarian alternative). Serves 2.

Adapted from Waitrose and Food Partners magazine recipes, September 2019 issue. Full recipe available in magazine, and part of it is available online here.

1 post has been published to the site Food Notes on Oct 16th in a previous year:

== 2018 ==
* Lamb tagine with dates & sweet potatoes