Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagne (V)

This is one for cousin Joe. He is a vegetarian and I know its been a little while since I have given the vegetarian readers a treat! This dish is a delight and meat eaters will not give a hoot that its vegetarian. Its that good.

Layers of mashed caramelised roasted butternut squash dotted with garlic and toasted pine nuts, fresh pasta and soft steamed spinach with a gruyere cheese sauce. What's not to like?! Its winter - treat yourself.

Ingredients:

700g butternut squash, peeled & chopped (1 large squash)
300g fresh spinach leaves
40g pine nuts
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tsp. olive oil
10 sheets lasagne (I used fresh, but dried is fine)
75g gruyere cheese (for topping)

For the sauce:

50g butter
50g flour
600ml milk
75g gruyere cheese


Method:

Set the oven to 200 C and pop the chopped squash on a baking tray. Drizzle with oil, season with salt & pepper and cook for about 40 minutes, until soft and beginning to slightly char at the edges. Put into a bowl and mash with a fork. If you get lots of brown bits that's okay - its caramelised.

Put the spinach in a colander in the sink and pour over a full kettle of boiling water to wilt. Leave to cool and put in the middle of a clean tea towel. Squeeze out the water.

To make the sauce, simply melt the butter in a sauce pan and tip in the flour. Stir and let cook for 1 minute to get the 'floury' taste out. Then add the milk in about 4 portions, stirring well to incorporate in between each adding. Stir well until creamy and add the 75g gruyere cheese. Stir in.

Put the oil in a little pan and add the garlic slices. Fry for 2 minutes and add the pine nuts. Cook stirring for another minute or two and drain on kitchen paper. Now you can assemble!

Put some cheese sauce in the base of a 9 inch lasagne dish. Put in a layer of lasagne and then layer 1/2 the ingredients - plus sauce and then some more lasagne. Then the rest of the ingredients and ending with a third layer of lasagne. Top with the remaining cheese sauce (you might want to heat it with some milk to make it pourable at this stage) and then the grated gruyere.

Bake in a 180 C oven (uncovered) for 40 minutes and its ready.