Lasagne with sweet potato, spinach and pine nuts

This vegetarian lasagne recipe with sweet potato and spinach is an easy meat-free alternative for family meals. The flavour combination is classic and delicious, and together with the creamy white sauce and topped with tasty melted cheese it’s a delicious and comforting dinner.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

• 85g parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), finely grated
• 250-300g dried lasagne sheets
• 50g pine nuts

FOR THE WHITE SAUCE

• 85g butter
• 85g plain flour
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 1/2L milk
• Nutmeg

FOR THE SWEET POTATO AND SPINACH

• 2 sweet potato, peeled and sliced lengthways
• 2 onions , finely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 700g fresh spinach leaves
• 250g ricotta

Method

1. Make the white sauce. Melt butter and flour together in a big saucepan, and cook for a couple of minutes. Add bay leaves, then gradually whisk in the milk, little by little, until you have a nice smooth sauce. Bubble for a few mins, then season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Remove bay leaf, cover with cling film (lay it directly onto the sauce) until ready to use.
2. Quickly grill sweet potato slices on each side until lightly coloured.
3. Cook the onions in oil until really soft. Boil water in a kettle. Put half the spinach in a big colander and pour over the boiling water to wilt. Repeat with the rest of the spinach, let it cool then squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the spinach. Roughly chop and stir into onions with ricotta, a small ladle of the white sauce and most of the parmesan. Season well.
4. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan-forced. Spread a quarter of the sauce into the base of a big baking dish, then dollop over a third of the spinach mixture. Top with a layer of sweet potato then lasagne sheets, then repeat the layers — a quarter of the sauce, third of the spinach mix, sweet potato and lasagne sheets. Finish with the remaining sauce and scatter over the remaining parmesan.
5. Bake for 40-50 minutes until the lasagne is cooked through and the top golden, scatter pine nuts with 10 minutes to go.