Pumpkin and cavolo nero lasagne
Lasagne’s beauty is more than cheese deep. This beauty lies in the process, pottering
away at each step – the pasta, tomato sauce, vegetables, bechamel – to create something
truly¬magical.
There is always room for a quick pasta dish, and you’ll £nd many of them in this book, but
don’t underestimate the power of taking your time and working your way through a recipe.
Everyone seems to confuse complicated with time consuming. Yes, this takes a bit of time,
but it’s easy and relaxing work. Think of it as a series of easy steps, just like a yoga practice.
The size of the baking dish does kind of matter here. You need something that has a 3 litre
capacity – I use a dish that’s roughly 30 cm by 20 cm with a depth of at least 7 cm.
If you’re really feeling like a meat-based lasagne, you could use my bolognese recipe
on page¬193 and leave out the pumpkin and tomato; just make sure you keep your bol’ nice
and loose.
Serves 6–8
1 kg pumpkin, peeled, deseeded
and cut into 1 cm-thick slices
120 ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus
extra for drizzling and greasing
sea salt and freshly ground
blackpepper
4 garlic cloves, nely chopped
1.2 kg canned whole peeled
tomatoes
25 g (½ cup) basil leaves
½ teaspoon caster sugar
1 bunch of cavolo nero, leaves
stripped and nely chopped
zest of 1 lemon
250 g mozzarella, grated (or use
scamorza – smoked mozzarella)
Bechamel
3 tablespoons cold salted butter
75 g (½ cup) plain our
650 ml full-cream milk
120 g (1 ½ cups) nely grated
Parmigiano Reggiano
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
sea salt and freshly ground
blackpepper
FRESH EGG PASTA DOUGH
FOR 4
rolled into 15 sheets,
1.2 mm thick
DRIED PASTA
600 g lasagne sheets
130
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan-forced.
Brush the pumpkin with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season
with salt. Place the pumpkin on a baking tray in a single layer
and roast for 30–40 minutes, until cooked through and slightly
charred at the edges. Depending on your oven, you might nd
a quick turn of the pumpkin halfway through will ensure even
cooking. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, you can get on with your tomato sauce. In a large
deep saucepan (tomato sauce always spits when bubbling away
and makes a mess), heat 2 tablespoons of the remaining oil over
medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then pour
in the tomatoes, along with basil leaves and sugar. Break up
the tomatoes using the back of a wooden spoon, then simmer,
stirring from time to time, for 40 minutes, until reduced and
thickened. Season to taste.
To make your bechamel, melt the butter in a saucepan over low
heat. Add the our and stir constantly with a wooden spoon for
about 2 minutes or until the mixture starts to bubble. This cooks
out that raw our taste. Gradually add the milk, still stirring
constantly. If handy, I switch to a whisk to help eliminate as
many lumps as I can. Slowly bring to the boil and continue to
occasionally stir for 8–10 minutes, until you have a smooth, thick
sauce. You’re looking for a thickness that passes the ‘coat the
back of a spoon test’, which means dipping your spoon into your
bechamel and drawing a nger through it. Does the bechamel
wipe clean, leaving an open space through your line? Once
it does, remove the pan from the heat and stir through 100g
(1 cup) of the Parmigiano Reggiano, along with the nutmeg.
Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying
pan over medium heat and add the cavolo nero. Cook for
5minutes or until wilted. Add the lemon zest, season with salt
and pepper and set aside.