Use up aging veggies to create a delicious, healthy, and nutritious lasagne for the whole family. Family food your kids will scarf.
Fact: Any dinner with melted cheese on it is immediately satisfying and delicious.
Before I dazzle you with this veggie-licious lasagne let me tell you about my latest favorite kitchen appliance. My Kambrook Mix and Store Stick Mixer.
Kambrook was generous enough to hand out these nifty little bad boys out to every blogger at an event I went to (no strings! how nice!) and I'm in love with it so Imma tell you about it. (Also happens to have been the same day I ended up on TV NBD. #whataham).
Long Story: I recently mangled my Breville Stab mixer in my rushed attempt to blitz up my own mayo for the first time (brave, I know) but the dang thing would not fit into the mouth of a mason jar it was far too wide, so I transferred my egg/ oil mixture to a bowl where half of it splattered upon first whirr. Finally I tried using the chopping bowl the mixer actually came with but unfortunately that was designed for the chopping blade hence the little metal part on the bottom of the bowl. Crrrrrrunch it went on the metal knob.
Short Story: I broke my Breville mixer because I’m an idiot.
Would you look at this!! The Kambrook one not only fits nicely into a Mason jar it’s even dishwasher friendly. (My previous one was not). Yus!
I love this thang.
Get to the point: So why in the world do I need a stab mixer to make lasagne? Because I upped the healthy factor with a layer of homemade pumpkin puree instead of a layer of cheese. It’s so easy you won’t even believe it.
Seriously, it’s going to take me longer to type out the instructions than it will for you to make this meal.
Here’s the story behind my recipe for a healthy veggie lasagne with hidden pumpkin puree.
It’s always a race against time to use my organic veggies from Aussie Farmers Direct before they wilt into oblivion.
I thought a lazy nice way to utilize a bunch of them without being too hippy-ish would be to layer them in a lasagne (the Italian in me always comes out in a pinch). I had a large organic eggplant and a half of a pumpkin sitting around but I didn’t want to go through all the work of slicing and roasting and peeling for my 'sagne so here’s the deal with the prep:
All you have to do is place the pumpkin in about a baking tray with about an inch of water, pulp side down, and bake at 175C for 45 minutes to an hour (I don’t even worry about pre-heating just shove it all in the oven as soon as you turn it on). When the pumpkin is done (test by sticking a fork in the thickest part), scoop out the insides and blend with a fab stab mixer while it’s still warm. Give it up for the Kambrook ya’ll! Sorry I do love it. The fact that it was free kinda makes me want to marry it but I'm #taken.
Slice the eggplant, skin on, and layer them with salt in a colander to drain out some of the liquid. You can totally skip this step if you don't have time.
Puree done and eggplant salting I sliced up a few organic tomatoes, grabbed my favorite go-to jar of canned tomato sauce, some instant lasagne sheets and and some shredded mozzarella cheese and got ready to chuck down all the layers.
Easy. Healthy. Naughty-tasting. The kids will eat it.
Slightly Healthy Veggie Lasagne with Pumpkin Puree
Ingredients
1 jarYour favorite tomato sauce
1/4Cooking Pumpkin or Butternut Squash
1Large Eggplant (or zucchini)
1 boxInstant Lasagne Sheets
1-2 CupsMozarella Cheese (depending on how cheesy you feel that day).
2-3 TomatosSliced
A few pinchesSalt & Pepper
Cooking Directions
Pumpkin Puree
Place pumpkin skin up, in a baking tray. Fill with water until the pumpkin is about 1/2-1 inch submerged.
Bake at 175C for 45-50 minutes or until a fork slides through middle easily.
Prep the Eggplant
Slice into rounds.
Layer Eggplant and salt in a colander and allow water to bead out onto the eggplant.
Dry/ wipe excess salt and water off the eggplant rounds and you are ready to layer.
Lightly coat the bottom of your baking dish with a spoonful or two of sauce and build the layers from there.
Layer the Lasagne: This is the order I used.
Instant lasagne sheets
Sliced tomatoes sprinkled with S&P
Instant Lasagne Sheets
Pumpkin puree
Eggplant
Tomato sauce
Instant Lasagne Sheets
Rest of the tomato sauce
Cheese- as much or as little as you like. (You can exclude it completely if you are non-dairy or have super willpower.)
Cover with foil and bake for an hour at 175C.
Remove foil and grill/broil for about 3 minutes or until cheese is golden and bubbly.
Could not even wait to get a good pic before digging in. Mmmmmm.
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Dawn Rieniets is both a visual artist and brand copywriter. She uses her MA in English, journalism and sales background to craft engaging brand identity copy for small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) globally.
Dawn exhibits artwork independently and with groups; Thou Art Mum and Melbourne and Victorian Artists (MAVA). In her online store, you can find original pieces, wall art prints, and other home decor. A few times per year she accepted personalised and sentimental art commissions for clients.
Dawn creates out of her home studio in Wurundjeri country, the Northern Suburbs of Melbourne.
