If you find that spinach and ricotta are two ingredients I used together recently, then you are right. Anna is still away and in the meantime, I’m still more economic with the time I spend in kitchen, so I’ve been improving my ability to make gourmet dishes quickly and for a single person.
Since more often than not I have the versatile spinach and ricotta pate in the refrigerator, here is a dish I came up with this week: a delicious spinach and ricotta lasagna with bechamel sauce and topped with cheese.
Ingredients
- Sheets of pasta for lasagna
- The Versatile spinach and ricotta pâté
- 300ml (7 floz) of milk
- 100g (3.5oz) of grated Parmesan
- 1 tablespoon of flour
- A hint of nutmeg
Directions for the bechamel sauce
- Dissolve the flour in the cold milk
- Add the nutmeg
- Cook over a low heat, mixing gently until it starts to thicken
- Remove from heat immediately
Directions for the lasagna
There isn’t really a rule of how many layers of lasagna or how much filling you should have, but I used 7 layers of lasagna and used a layer of filling of about 3mm (0.1in), but feel free to choose your own measurements.
- Spread a thin layer of the sauce on the bottom of the tray
- Spread the Spinach and Ricotta pâté on a layer of lasagna
- Position the layer on the tray, over the sauce
- Add a thin layer of the bechamel sauce
- Repeat the process until you’re done with the layers
- Cover generously with the sauce and make sure also the sides are covered
- Spread the grated cheese over the top and cook in a preheated oven at 200°C (390°F) for about 25 minutes
Now, the final secret. Lasagna cooks much better in a baking dish made of terracotta or other material that allows a slow cooking than a metal one.
2 Comments
I absolutely love the combination of ricotta and spinach. I am keeping this lasagna recipe for when we get home to the Netherlands as ricotta is hard to come by in Beijing.
I agree with you regarding the use of terracotta when it comes to baking dishes. I find it cooks more evenly as opposed to the metal ones. Perhaps it has something to do with the porous material?
You all have a lovely blog and you can be sure I shall be dropping by regularly. I got to know of it when Trudy left an encouraging comment on one of my blog entries where I used your paella recipe with great success. Cheers!
@Dutchess -
Hi Dutchess, lack of ricotta shouldn’t be a problem since you can improvise your own. Just boil two liters (70floz) of milk with a little vinegar or lemon (two or three spoons are enough) and the milk will start to form curdles.
Let it boil for a minute or two and pass the content of the pan through a sieve covered with a clean cloth and the curdles that remain on the cloth are a home-made version of ricotta you can use.
2 liters (70floz) will make about 500g (18oz) of home-made ricotta.
I hope you can try it soon