Summer vegetable lasagne with blue cheese and pine nuts recipe

By Lucy Williams

Makes 2 lasagnes; each serves 4-6
Takes 40 minutes to make, 1 hour 20-30 minutes to cook, plus cooling, freezing and cooking from frozen
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This double-up vegetarian lasagne recipe will give you two meals – just freeze half, ready to be popped in the oven for quick, easy dinner at a later date.

Summer vegetable lasagne with blue cheese and pine nuts

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, finely chopped
500g courgettes (about 3-4), halved lengthways and cut into 1cm slices
1kg spinach, stalks picked
2 x 285g jars roasted peppers in oil, thickly sliced
100g pine nuts, toasted
Grated zest of 2 lemons
350g vegetarian blue cheese, crumbled
130g vegetarian Parmesan, finely grated
400g vegetarian ricotta
450g (about 18) fresh lasagne sheets

For the white sauce

100g butter, plus extra for greasing
100g plain flour
1.2 litres full-fat milk

Method

1. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a frying pan and gently fry the onions for 5 minutes to soften. Remove, add the remaining oil and fry the courgettes for 6 minutes until golden. Put the spinach into a colander and pour over boiling water to wilt, refresh under cold running water, squeeze dry and chop. Set aside.
2. Make the white sauce. Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat, stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Off the heat, gradually pour in the milk, stirring continuously. Bring to the boil, simmer for 4 minutes to thicken, then take off the heat. Season.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Butter 2 x 2-litre ovenproof dishes. In a big bowl, mix the onions and courgettes, spinach, peppers, pine nuts, lemon zest, all three cheeses (reserving some blue cheese and Parmesan for the top), and season. Layer each dish first with pasta (cut the sheets to fit), then a layer of the white sauce, then a quarter of the vegetable and cheese mixture. Repeat. Finish with a layer of lasagne sheets and the rest of the white sauce, and scatter over the reserved cheeses.
4. Cook 1 lasagne for 50-60 minutes until piping hot and golden on top. Wrap the other in cling film and freeze for up to 3 months. Cook from frozen at 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4 for 1½ hours until piping hot.

Nutritional info

Per serving (based on 12): 616kcals, 40.6g fat (18.5g saturated), 26.1g protein, 38.4g carbs, 8.8g sugar, 2.1g salt

Chef's tip

Try not to over-stuff your freezer. Leave space between packages so air can circulate. Label each item with the recipe name and the date it was frozen, and go through your freezer regularly.