It's A Winner

I put off making this lasagne dish for three weeks because I assumed that it would be difficult and that the kids probably wouldn't like it anyway. Offspring #2 is being particularly fussy at the moment and it's driving me a bit nuts. It's all typical two-year-old behaviour but, my goodness, does it get on my nerves when I have chosen a recipe I'm sure she'll love only for her to have a taste, say "nooooooooo" or even worse, "yuk" (pretty much guaranteed to make my blood boil) and push it away. Anyway, I finally bit the bullet and tried this one out and it was delicious and really simple to make. It took me about an hour and a half from grabbing out the chopping board to putting the meal on the table but you could easily prepare it the night before. Hubby and I loved it and Offspring #1 polished his off and asked for seconds so I knew I was on a winner there. #2 did well until she came across the pumpkin, which she has decided is the foulest vegetable known to man, after which she refused to eat any more. Sadly for her, I love pumpkin so it tends to find it's way into any number of dishes and she's just going to have to get used to it!

Here's the recipe. I'm giving it to you as it appeared in the magazine but I halved it which fed the four of us for one night and left enough for dinner for Hubby and I the next night. I forgot to add the onion but we didn't miss it, so I won't bother to put it in next time round.

Vegetable and Ricotta Lasagne
Australian Table, July 2007

1 medium kumara, peeled, sliced

400g pumpkin, peeled, sliced

1 head broccoli, cut into florets

1 large onion, sliced

2 medium zucchini, sliced lengthways

2 carrots, sliced lengthways

3 medium potatoes, peeled, sliced

575g jar bolgnese pasta sauce

1 kg ricotta

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1 packet instant lasagne sheets

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Cook vegetables in a steamer over boiling water on medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes, until soft.

2. Cover base of a 12-cup baking dish with one-third of vegetables. Season to taste with a little salt and a good griding of black pepper.

3. top with one-third each of pasta sauce, ricotta, parmesan and lasagne sheets. Repeat layers, finishing with parmesan. Bake for 45 minutes, until golden and bubbling. Serve with mixed salad leaves.