Fresh spinach and plenty of, Romano and mozzarella make this a cheesy and hearty vegetarian dish This is a Sanjeev Kapoor exclusive recipe.
A treasure house of vitamins and minerals, spinach must be included in the week’s menu. The usage can be varied: chopped spinach leaves cooked with potatoes is a semi-wet vegetable with rotis, a few spinach leaves thrown in with mixed vegetables and turned into a soup is lovely on a cold winter night, chopped and blanched spinach makes a different sort of raita, spinach puree can be used in cutlets or kababs, the list goes on.
Ingredients:
◦ Spinach (500 grams)◦ Olive oil 2 tablespoons
◦ Onion finely chopped 1 medium
◦ Garlic cloves crushed 4
◦ Tomatoes blanched, seeded and roughly chopped 4 large
◦ Salt to taste
◦ Black peppercorns toasted and crushed 5-6
◦ Mozzarella cheese grated 1/2 cup
◦ Processed cheese grated 1/2 cup
◦ Fresh lasagne :
◦ Refined flour (maida) 1 cup
◦ Olive oil 1 tablespoon
◦ Egg yolks 2
◦ White sauce :
◦ Refined flour (maida) 2 tablespoons
◦ Nutralite 2 tablespoons
◦ Milk 2 cups
◦ Salt to taste
◦ White pepper powder to taste
◦ Garnish :
◦ Parsley chopped fresh 2 tablespoons
Method:
Step 1
Blanch the spinach and refresh under running water. Drain in a colander and squeeze to remove excess water and chop coarsely.
Step 2
Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion has softened slightly. Add spinach and cook till quite dry. Add the tomatoes and cook for about two minutes. Season with salt and crushed black peppercorns and set aside.
Step 3
Sift the flour and one fourth teaspoon salt together. Make a well in the centre and pour in the olive oil and mix into the flour. Add the egg yolks and knead into a moderately hard dough. Knead lightly for five to ten minutes. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and set aside for ten minutes.
Step 4
Divide the dough into three parts and roll out on a floured board into twelve-inch squares.
Cut each square into six-inch wide strips and cook in four cups of boiling salted water for three minutes. Drain the strips, put in cold water and set aside.
Step 5
Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/Step 6
To make the white sauce melt the Nutralite in a heavy bottomed pan and add the flour. Cook for two to three minutes on low heat till fragrant.
Step 7
Add the warm milk, whisking vigorously to prevent lumps from forming. Add the salt and white pepper powder and cook for four to five minutes till sauce thickens. Pass the sauce through a sieve.