Cheesy Pumpkin Lasagna

This was my first time making lasagna and I'm pleased to say that it turned out delicious, even if there were some issues along the way.

You'll need a food processor, which I didn't have, and my Mum was very convinced that a blender would work just fine. Which really was not the case, but the entire lasagna was still good. But next time I'll definitely want a processor.

So you can either make the cheese sauce while the pumpkin is cooking, which I did and seriously regretted, or do it while the pumpkin and ricotta is processing, which seems a lot smarter. My poor cheese sauce was waiting around for ages while I poorly blended my pumpkin. 

Ingredients:

• 1.2kg of Pumpkin, Deseeded, Peeled & Cut into 3cm pieces
• 60g of Butter
• 2 & a 1/2 Cups of Milk
• 1/4 Cup of Plain Flour
• 3 Cups of Grated Cheese
• 300g Fresh Ricotta
• 1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan
• 1 Bunch of Chives, Finely Chopped
• 2 Tablespoons of Milk
• 1 Egg, Whisked
• Fresh Lasagne Sheets
• Baby Spinach Leaves

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 200 Degrees Celsius.
2. Grease an 8 cup capacity ovenproof lasagne dish.
3. Place pumpkin in a saucepan of boiling water. Cook for 8 minutes or until tender. Drain & Cool.
4. Place Pumpkin & Ricotta into a food processor and process until smooth.  
5. Meanwhile melt butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add flour and whisk to combine. Cook for two minutes. Remove from the heat. Slowly add milk whisking until smooth. Return to heat, whisking, until it comes to the boil. Simmer for 2 minutes. 
6. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 Cup of grated cheese. Put to the side.
7. Transfer the processed pumpkin and ricotta to a bowl and stir in the parmesan, chives, extra milk & whisked egg. 
8. Spread 1/2 a cup of the pumpkin mixture over the base of the dish. Top with lasagne sheets. Spoon 1 cup of pumpkin over evenly. Top with 1/3 baby spinach leaves and 1/3 cup of cheese sauce. Repeat layers, ending with the cheese sauce. 
9. Sprinkle over remaining grated cheese. 
10. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden. (Only took about 20 minutes to cook in my oven)