Mixed Mushroom & Spinach Lasagne

We try and incorporate at least one, if not two veggie meals a week into our diet (as well as fish once or twice a week) and to be honest, while it is good to not have meat occasionally, I’m not too sure on how healthy some of the veggie dishes I come up with are as they often seem to have cheese or a creamy sauce.

I found this recipe which calls for cottage cheese rather than the usual ricotta: the cottage cheese stays moist during cooking but also adds a sharp tanginess which the otherwise potentially bland ingredients need plus, bonus, to my mind at least the fat content is lower.

Similarly I have used low fat mozzarella as well as Elmlea “fake” cream rather than full fat double cream. The decadent creaminess and flavour is still present in spades but the fat content has been cut. A little at least.

Adapted from recipe here.


Creamy Mixed Mushroom & Spinach Lasagna
serves 2-3

35g unsalted butter, plus more for greasing baking dish, divided
1 large garlic clove, pressed
260g bag of spinach leaves, washed, dried & roughly chopped
190ml double cream, divided
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
150g cottage cheese
5g chopped parsley, divided
1 egg, beaten & halved
5 sheets fresh lasagne (ready to cook)
225g mixed mushrooms (I used chestnut, shiitake & portobellini), finely chopped
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
⅔ tsp thyme leaves, picked & finely chopped
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon
2 tsp flour
150ml whole milk
115g mozzarella, grated, divided
20g parmesan or gran padano, grated

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Melt 15g butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the spinach in batches, allowing the previous batch to wilt before adding the next. Once all spinach is added, add 80ml cream. Bring to a boil, and reduce to a strong simmer. Cook, stirring frequently, until thick and reduced, about 15 minutes. Add nutmeg, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

While the spinach is cooking, combine the cottage cheese, half the beaten egg, and 2 tablespoons of parsley in the bowl of a food processor. Process until combined and cottage cheese is broken up to the texture of ricotta cheese, about 5 seconds.

Combine the cooked spinach and cottage cheese mixture in a large bowl.

Wipe out the spinach pan and return to a medium-high heat with another 15g of butter and heat until melted. Add the shallots and cook until softening, about 5 minutes and then add the mushrooms and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates and mushrooms start to sizzle, which will take about 10 minutes.

Add soy sauce and lemon juice and stir to combine. Add the remaining cream and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 3 minutes until lightly thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper and transfer to another bowl.

Wipe out the pan again and return to a medium-high heat. Add the remaining butter and heat until melted. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly with a whisk, until light golden blond in colour. Slowly pour in milk, whisking constantly. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat. Stir in 2/3rds of mozzarella and parmesan, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

To assemble the lasagna, grease a baking dish with butter and then layer up the cheese sauce, lasagne sheets and mushroom mixture then lasagne sheets again, spinach mixture, more lasagne sheets then repeat ending with a layer pasta before pouring the remaining cheese sauce over top. Spread this out evenly then sprinkle with the remaining 1/3rd of grated mozzarella evenly over top.

Bake in the preheated oven until the lasagna is bubbling around the edges, about 30 minutes.

Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.