Tag Archives: spinach

Mushroom, Leek and Spinach Lasagne

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MUSHROOM, LEEK AND SPINACH LASAGNE

Mushroom, Leek and Spinach Lasagne

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 leeks, thinly sliced
  • 400g fresh mushrooms
  • Packet frozen mushrooms, thawed and drained to keep the liquid
  • 300g baby spinach
  • 20 sheets lasagne
  • Salt and pepper
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Extra grated parmesan

MUSHROOM BECHAMEL:

  • Milk
  • Liquid from frozen mushrooms
  • 100g grated parmesan
  • 100g butter
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 small onion, cut in half
  • 2 bayleaves

METHOD

  1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
  2. Prepare the lasagne according to instructions.
  3. Heat some oil and butter in a frying pan.
  4. Fry the onion, garlic, leek and mushrooms for 5-10 minutes until soft.
  5. Add the spinach, cover and cook until it has wilted down.
  6. Turn up the heat slightly to boil off most of the liquid.
  7. Season with salt and pepper.

MAKE THE BECHAMEL:

  1. Mix together the mushroom liquid and milk to make 750ml.
  2. Heat this gently in a pan, adding the onion and bayleaves for 5 minutes.
  3. Heat the butter in a saucepan.
  4. Stir in the flour and mix well, heating gently to thicken.
  5. Gradually add the liquid to the roux, stirring all the time until the sauce has thickened.
  6. Season with salt and pepper. You can always add more milk if necessary to obtain a thick white sauce.
  7. Turn down the heat and cook gently for another 5-10 minutes.
  8. Stir in the grated parmesan.

COMPLETE THE DISH:

  1. Oil the base and sides of a casserole or lasagne dish.
  2. Pour half of the bechamel sauce into the vegetable mixture and mix well.
  3. Place a layer of lasagne sheets on the base of the dish.
  4. Spoon over half of the vegetable mixture and top with another layer of lasagne.
  5. Repeat.
  6. Pour over the remaining bechamel sauce, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with grated parmesan.
  7. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until golden brown.

Spinach Falafel

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SPINACH FALAFEL

I don’t normally use spinach when I make falafels but as we have got plenty of perpetual spinach at the moment, I thought it would be a good to add some to my normal falafel recipe. We tried them today and they worked well.

Spinach Falafel

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in water overnight and then drained
  • 2 teaspoons of cumin
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
  • salt and pepper
  • olive oil
  • 30 large perpetual spinach leaves (or equivalent)
  • 1 small onion
  • 2 large cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons gram flour
  • juice of 1/2 lemon

METHOD

    1. Blend the chickpeas in a food processor.
    2. Add the remaining ingredients and blend again to form a dough.
    3. Heat some oil in a frying pan.
    4. Form the falafel mixture into small falafels and fry for a couple of minutes on each side before turning.

 

 

Spinach and Ricotta Pasta

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We’ve been fairly self-sufficient recently in terms of green vegetables and the broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and Brussel spouts have kept us going through the winter months. The other day, I spotted some perpetual spinach and so thought I would do something different with it. Here is a recipe for pasta with spinach and ricotta. I used wholewheat macaroni but you could use anything.

SPINACH AND RICOTTA PASTA

INGREDIENTS

  • 200g pasta
  • 200g ricotta
  • fresh spinach
  • salt and pepper
  • cheddar or parmesan cheese, grated
  • extra virgin olive oil

METHOD

  1. Heat some salted water for the pasta.
  2. Wilt the spinach in a frying pan with a splash of water.
  3. Roughly chop the spinach.
  4. Cook the pasta.
  5. Heat some oil and a knob of butter in a frying pan and gently fry the garlic.
  6. Add the spinach, the ricotta and season with salt and pepper.
  7. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pasta to the frying pan and mix well.
  8. Add some more of the pasta cooking liquid if necessary.
  9. Serve and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Smoked salmon pasta

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Smoked salmon pasta

smoked salmon past

Smoked salmon pasta

This pasta dish is made with smoked salmon, spinach and cream cheese. A couple of spoonfuls of the pasta cooking liquid are added to the dish at the end to moisten it slightly. The dish is then served with freshly ground black pepper and grated parmesan cheese.

INGREDIENTS:
100g pasta per person
1/2 or 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
50g spinach per person, finely shredded
50g cream cheese per person
 zest and juice of 1/2 – 2 lemons
1/4 – 1 packet smoked salmon
handful of basil, roughly chopped
salt and pepper
olive oil

METHOD:
Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water.

Meanwhile, heat some oil in a large wok. Gently soften the garlic for a few minutes before adding the spinach to wilt. Add the cream cheese and mix well to combine, before adding the lemon zest and juice. Season with black pepper.

Drain the pasta, keeping back some of the cooking liquid.

Add the smoked salmon to the sauce along with the pasta and basil. Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Stir in a couple of tablespoons of cooking liquid to slacken the pasta slightly.

Serve with grated parmesan cheese.    

Spicy chickpea stew

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Spicy chickpea stew

spicy chickpea stew

Spicy chickpea stew

This spicy chickpea stew can be made with spinach, kale or chard. The idea is to cut all the vegetables to the size of chickpeas or 1cm cubes. This stew is meant to be spicy so add as much or as little chilli powder as you like.

INGREDIENTS:
400g cooked chickpeas
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 large red pepper, chopped
1 courgette, chopped
1 large aubergine, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 x 400g canned chopped tomatoes
300g spinach, chard or kale
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon spicy paprika
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
2 vegetable stock cubes
olive oil
salt and pepper

METHOD:
Heat some oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and fry gently until soft. Add the other vegetables and continue to fry for another 5 or so minutes. Add the spices and mix well. Pour in the tomatoes, chickpeas and one can of water. Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. If you are using kale or chard, chop and add to the pan. Cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. If you are using spinach, add it now onto the top of the tomato/chickpea mixture and cover so that the heat wilts the spinach. Stir the spinach through.

This is good served with fried eggs and garlic mayonnaise.