Searching the BBC food website for vegetarian recipes, I came across this Pumpkin Lasagne. As butternut squash has been something of a favourite at Casa Uborka lately, I thought I’d customise it ever so slightly; purchased ingredients and headed into a practice run for tonight’s veggie dinner party.
The recipe turned out to be the biggest load of nonsense I have ever read. I was about to email the BBC, lambasting them for publishing a recipe that has obviously never been tested, when I noticed that there was a second version of it, with an amended ingredients list, attributed to the tellytubbyesque Anthony Worrall-Thompson.
Unfortunately, the ridiculous cooking instructions haven’t changed. Anyway, by the time I discovered the updated recipe, I had already created my own, which I give to you here.
Ingredients 90ml/3fl oz extra virgin olive oil 600g/3lb 2¼oz butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced nb. half a butternut squash is about 400g. 250g/9oz fresh ricotta cheese paprika to taste fresh ground black pepper
For the béchamel sauce: 55g/2oz butter 55g/2oz plain flour 350ml/10 ½fl oz milk 1 egg 25g/2oz grated cheddar cheese
250g/8 ¾oz green lasagne pasta 25g/1oz Parmesan cheese, grated
Method
- Put the olive oil in a large pan and cook the diced squashfor 25-30 minutes or more on a very low heat. Stir frequently and keep covered. The pumpkin is ready when it is completely tender.
- Season squash with plenty of paprika and ground black pepper
- Add the ricotta cheese while it’s still on the heat. Stir well then remove from the heat. Cover and allow to stand.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
- To make béchamel sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan without letting it fry, add the flour little by little, stirring regularly to avoid lumps. When the flour has evenly absorbed the butter, continue to stir and let it cook. Add the milk a little at a time until a smooth, thick and creamy sauce is obtained. Season.
- In a large ovenproof dish, spread a thin layer of sauce, then arrange a layer of lasagne pasta. Cover with a layer of squash mixture, pasta again, another layer of sauce, more squash mixture and finish with a layer of lasagne pasta.
- Add the beaten egg, the grated cheese, and about two tablespoons of water to the sauce, and return the pan to the heat, stirring continuously for about a minute.
- Pour this mixture over the lasagne, and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
- Bake for 30 minutes, and serve with a sharp rocket salad to contrast with the creamy butternut squash. Of course, we haven’t eaten it yet, so it might be shite. I’ll let you know.
Update: The lasagne looked a little dry when it came out of the oven, but in fact was most edible, and my only complaint would be that it was slightly bland. I think something sharper needs to be added to the filling, or alternatively you could put the butternut squash mixture in one layer, and spinach in the other.Meanwhile, my apple and raspberry crumblets were the star of the show.