Spinach and ricotta lasagne

Serves 4-6
Per portion: 464 kcal, 22g protein, 28g fat, 32g carbohydrate

850ml semi-skimmed milk
50g olive oil spread
50g plain flour
1 bay leaf
60g grated Parmesan
600g spinach
225g ricotta
12 lasagne sheets (ready to cook)
50g pine nuts, toasted
Half tsp of nutmeg powder
100g blue cheese, crumbled
100g grated Mozzarella
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C /Gas Mark 4.

Place the milk, olive oil spread, flour and bay leaf in a saucepan, season, and whisk together over a medium heat continually until it comes to simmering point and has thickened.

Turn the heat down to its lowest possible setting and allow the sauce to cook gently for 5 minutes. Then, stir in most (50g) of the Parmesan, remove the pan from the heat and discard the bay leaf.

Remove the stalks from the spinach, then wash the leaves thoroughly in two or three changes of cold water and shake them dry. Take a large saucepan and add a little olive oil spread and the spinach leaves. Place the pan over a medium heat, put the lid on and cook the spinach for about 2 minutes.

Drain the spinach in a colander and, when it's cool enough to handle, squeeze it in your hands to get rid of excess liquid, then chop finely. Put it into a bowl, add the ricotta, 150ml of the sauce, season and add the nutmeg. Mix together and then fold in the crumbled blue cheese.

Assemble the lasagne by spreading one-quarter of the sauce into the bottom of the dish, then one-third of the spinach mixture, followed by a scattering of toasted pine nuts and place sheets of pasta on top of this. Repeat the whole process, this time adding one-third of the grated Mozzarella along with the pine nuts, then the lasagne sheets. Repeat again, finishing with a layer of pasta, the rest of the sauce and the remaining Parmesan and Mozzarella.

Bake for 50-60 minutes until the top is golden and bubbling.

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