Katrina Meynink's rainbow vegetarian lasagne

Name: Katrina Meynink's rainbow vegetarian lasagne
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 6-8
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Ingredients: 1kg Japanese pumpkin, deseeded, cut into equal sized wedges; 1 tbsp olive oil; 200g feta; 1 tbsp dried or fresh thyme; 2 egg yolks

Katrina Meynink

August 13, 2020

Eat all the colours of the rainbow.Katrina Meynink

Time:2 hours +Serves:6-8

This is not about the vegetable layers as much as it is about a journey in pairing said vegetables with ALL the cheese. The cheese is equally important for retaining moisture in the layers as no sauce has been used, so don't be scant with it. In the interests of being upfront – this does take some time, but you can make the layers across a few days and keep them in the fridge, then all you need to do is assemble on the day of eating, rather than try to do it all in one hit.

Ingredients

Roasted pumpkin and feta layer

1kg Japanese pumpkin, deseeded, cut into equal sized wedges
1 tbsp olive oil
200g feta
1 tbsp dried or fresh thyme
2 egg yolks

Beautiful beets layer

500g cooked beetroot* (about 5 small)
150g goat's cheese

Green layer

2 tsp olive oil
2 cups spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 tbsp finely chopped basil leaves
zest of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup ricotta
½ cup pecorino, grated (or parmesan or other firm cheese)

Creamy tomato layer

1 cup ricotta
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup semi-dried tomatoes (plus ½ cup to stir through)
1 x 140g tub tomato paste

To assemble

6 fresh lasagne sheets
1 x ball buffalo mozzarella (about 150g)
½ cup grated cheddar cheese

Method

For the roasted pumpkin layer
Preheat oven to 175C fan-forced (195C conventional).
Spread pumpkin pieces on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Drizzle over the oil and roast in the oven for 45 minutes or until golden on top and cooked through. Remove from the oven and carefully scoop the flesh from the skins into a blender. Add the feta and thyme and blitz until a uniform texture. Allow to cool before stirring through the egg yolks. Cover and set aside until ready to assemble.
For the beets layer
Add the beetroot and goat's cheese to a blender and pulse briefly to combine. You don't want to completely obliterate the beetroot but you need the mixture to be spreadable. A few chunks here and there are more than OK; in fact, I encourage it. Set aside.
For the greens layer
Place a frying pan over medium heat. Add the oil and, once shimmering, add the spinach, parsley and basil and cook for maximum one minute. You want the leaves to soften and just cook through. Remove from heat and stir through the lemon zest and garlic. Add to a bowl with the ricotta and pecorino and season generously with salt and pepper. Set aside.
For the creamy tomato layer
Add all ingredients (except the reserved semi-dried tomatoes) into a blender and blitz to combine. Season to taste then stir through the additional tomatoes. Cover and set aside.
To assemble
When ready to assemble, the four fillings should all be at room temperature so they are spreadable.
Preheat oven to 170C fan-forced (190C conventional) and par-boil the lasagne sheets (unless specified on the packet; some fresh lasagne sheets include a note to say no pre-boiling required).
Line a 25cm x 15cm x10cm baking dish with baking paper. Layer a fresh lasagne sheet across the base. Top with the creamy tomato mixture, spread in a single layer.
Top with another lasagne sheet, then smear over the pumpkin layer.
Top this with a lasagne sheet then add the spinach mixture. Thinly slice the ball of mozzarella and arrange the slices on top of the green mixture, before covering with another lasagne sheet.
Top with the beetroot mixture then place the final lasagne sheet on top.
Scatter over the cheddar cheese then tightly cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes before removing the foil and cooking for another 10-15 minutes or until the top is nice and golden.
Allow to cool slightly before cutting into this. No lasagne survives a hot cut – the innards go everywhere. If, like me, you don't care about this, go forth, cut and enjoy.
*If you want a shortcut, you can get away with buying pre-cooked beetroots at the supermarket rather than roasting beetroots for this. They are in the chilled aisle; just don't use tinned beets as they are so over-sweetened they will take over this dish.