Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

On Sunday night, I cooked a roast dinner. Chicken, with all the trimmings (including a horribly lumpy gravy). As I was dishing up the pumpkin, I realised that I hadn’t saved any for the vegetable lasagna I planned on making the following night.

I could make an emergency trip to the store for one thing (gah!), or I could short-change Tall’s lunchtime-leftovers, and keep a few pieces behind…..sorry, honey, but you got heaps of spuds and kumara instead!

I made this baby up as I went along, based on what I had in the fridge and cupboards, and it worked out really well. The only thing I would change next time would be to cut my little eggplants into thicker pieces, as a couple of them cooked away to nothing more than skin, which made for a slightly unusual (and unpleasant) texture.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna (with Chicken) – serves 4

6-8 portabello mushrooms, skinned
5 finger eggplants, thickly sliced (or 1 large eggplant)
olive oil
1 bag of baby spinach, washed
2c roasted pumpkin (I threw in a leftover piece of kumara, too)
250g ricotta cheese
100g feta cheese, crumbled
1 egg, lightly beaten
freshly grated nutmeg (or a pinch of ground)
salt & pepper
optional: 2c shredded cooked chicken (I used leftovers from the roasted bird)
2c tomato pasta sauce (either from a jar, or homemade)
lasagna sheets (I use dried sheets that don’t require pre-cooking)
tasty cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 180degC.

Trim any woody ends from the mushrooms; place in a large roasting dish with the slices of eggplant. Drizzle with olive oil and roast until tender (approx. 20-30mins).

Bring a pan of water to the boil; cook spinach for 30 seconds until just wilted. Drain thoroughly; cool, and squeeze out any remaining liquid.

In a large bowl, roughly mash the roasted pumpkin. Add half the ricotta, the feta, lightly beaten egg and seasonings. Mix well.

Spoon 1/2c tomato pasta sauce into the bottom of a baking dish. Cover with a layer of lasagna sheets.

Lay mushrooms and eggplant slices evenly over the top, followed by the shredded chicken, if using. Spoon the remaining pasta sauce over the top, and add another lasagna layer.

Blob the wilted spinach evenly over this layer, followed by the pumpkin and cheese mixture; spread evenly with a spatula. Add another layer of lasagna.

Spread the remaining ricotta over the top of the lasagna, ensuring an even cover. Sprinkle with grated cheese, and season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 30mins, until the lasagna sheets are cooked and the top is golden brown. Stand for 5mins before cutting to serve.