Culture

My flatmate is a bit of a genius when it comes to vegetarian lasagne. General flat consensus: mince is good, but pumpkin and feta is great. This may have something to do with the fact the majority of our flat is vegetarian, or at least vege-flexible (i.e. doesn’t eat meat usually, but is partial to the odd cheeseburger). But meat eaters should not for a moment think that making lasagne with spinach and cheese is in anyway second rate. It’s incredibly delicious. Very kindly, my flatmate shared her lasagne-making secrets with me and now I share them with you. I’m convinced it’s the goon that makes it; once again proving that there is nothing cooler than Country cask wine.

Trick for young players: instant lasagne is exactly that, instant. If you buy the lasagne sheets (and you might as well because they aren’t expensive and they’re a lot less hassle) you don’t need to cook them first.
 
Ingredients
1/8 pumpkin, cut into small 1cm squared cubes
1 tbsp oil
1 onion, diced
2 teaspoon minced garlic or 3 cloves
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon chilli powder
10 mushrooms, sliced
½ red capsicum, cut into 1cm squared pieces.
2 cans of canned tomatoes
3 pieces of frozen spinach, or a handful of fresh spinach, chopped
½ cup red wine, although the more the merrier (I suggest Country Red goon). If you don’t have any, a dash of balsamic vinegar will do.
2 tbsp brown sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste

You can pick and choose your vegetables depending on the season. Diced eggplant, grated carrot, silverbeet, zucchinis, beans, even lentils or kidney beans, would all work wonderfully. Just make sure you have enough vegetables to bulk out the mix.
 
 The white sauce

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 cup cheese, grated
Salt and Pepper to taste
 
The extras
1/2 tub of cottage cheese OR ½ block of feta. Feta is wonderfully sharp, but cottage cheese gives a delicious creaminess.
Handful of walnuts, broken into small pieces or pumpkin seeds
 
Method
 
1.     Boil or roast pumpkin pieces until soft, but still firm. Set the oven to 180 degrees.
 
2.     Warm oil in a pan, and fry garlic and onion with basil, rosemary and chilli. Add the mushrooms and capsicum, fry until soft.
 
3.     Add the canned tomatoes, wine, sugar and seasoning. When the tomatoes are heated through, add the spinach. When the pumpkin is ready, add it too. Now you just need to simmer and reduce, stirring often, until the sauce is thick, rich and tasty. Make sure you try the sauce, adjusting seasoning, herbs, sugar and wine to ensure ultimate deliciousness. Pour yourself a glass of wine and embrace your inner Italian housewife/husband.
 
4.     In another pan, melt butter. Add the flour and mix into a paste. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. Take off the heat, and add seasoning and cheese.
 
5.     Once sauce is reduced, pour mix into a lasagne dish, at least 10cm deep. Place over lasagne sheets, covering the mix. Pour cheese sauce over, sprinkle with walnuts, and crumble feta or cottage cheese over. Top with more lasagne sheets, more mix, and so on, until the mix has run out. Finish off with more lasagne sheets, the remainder of the cheese sauce, grated cheese and a sprinking of walnuts (or pumpkin seeds, if you prefer).
 
6.     Bake for 30-40 mins in the oven, or until the lasagne sheets are cooked and the top is golden.
 

 
Although it is probably not a common suggestion in the pretentious world of wine matching, I suggest serving with a glass of Country Red. What could be better after a long hard day of refreshing Facebook?