Tuesday 17 May 2011

Superquick Spinach and Cheese Lasagne

Yay! It's Tuesday, which means Tasty Tuesday is here again. If you're new to this blog and don't know what I'm talking about then please hop over to FTLOB to see all the entries for this week's meme. There's loads of lovely recipes all waiting and crying out to be tried. Over on this blog I try to inspire my fellow Weight Watchers with yummy recipes that are not going to result in the dreaded weight gain at the weekly weigh in. Most of the recipes are from various WW cookbooks, leaflets, websites etc. 

When Himself (aka Lego Man) decided that he wanted to try this recipe, I will admit, I pulled a face. Hmmmm, yes. Spinach. Need I say more?? My perception of spinach has an awful lot to do with boarding school food. It was a mass of soggy, stringy green stuff that was schlopped onto your plate on a fairly regular basis. It sat there looking malevolent and giving off a smell - no, an odour - that was only a mild foretaste of the horrors that you were going to have to endure. And it had to be eaten because the Boarder Mistress/Master would be checking. The first mouthful would be enough to put anyone off spinach for life because it would reveal that the wonderful odour was just a confirmation of the flavour. The second mouthful would reveal that it hadn't been washed properly and still contained grit, and then you had to chew your way through half a bucketful of soil that had managed not to get boiled out of the soggy mass. You also learned to pick your way very carefully through it after one unfortunate girl found a teeny tiny baby snail on her plate. Yes. Really. 

So, it was with much trepidation that I agreed to put this recipe on the menu for the week. Himself did the honours of cooking it. It was surprisingly quick and easy to do...


Low fat cooking spray
200g frozen spinach, defrosted and drained (we used a whole bunch of fresh spinach instead)
100g low fat soft cheese with garlic and herbs
6 sheets no pre-cook lasagne (ok, we used a few more... about 9 or so)
400g can chopped tomatoes
50g low fat Cheddar cheese, grated
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a handful of fresh basil or parsley to garnish, optional.

  1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/ 180C/Fan oven 160C. Spray a small ovenproof dish with the cooking spray.
  2. In a bowl, mix together the spinach and soft cheese and season with black pepper. Place two sheets of lasagne in the oven dish, then spoon over half the spinach mixture.
  3. Place two more sheets of lasagne on top and spoon the remaining spinach mixture onto it. Repeat with the last two sheets, pours over the chopped tomatoes, season generously and sprinkle with the grated cheese
  4. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and bubbling. Garnish with basil or parsley, if using.
Serves: 2
ProPoints Total: 17
ProPoints/serving: 8

Verdict:

Oh my! This dish completely changed my view of spinach!! I never knew it could be this good. I'm definitely not a vegetarian and love my meat, but this lasagne was a great addition to our repetoire. We will definitely be putting it on the menu more often from now on. Although, I have to note that we didn't attempt to serve this to the kids as we predicted that a riot would probably be the result. However, I think the gruesome twosome could probably learn to eat this without too much fuss......

Who am I kidding? Expecting them to eat greenery in a new recipe is going to be disastrous, but I might still try. They pull their noses up at everything else, so it won't make much of a change will it?

I heartily recommend it, even if you don't usually eat spinach. Let me know what you think, and if you make it I'd love some feedback!!

Come back tomorrow for WOYWW. Hopefully I'll be able to participate this week. It all depends on how organised I am in the morning. 

See you soon!!

3 comments:

  1. OO, that looks deliscious! And I'd probably have thought the same about spinach but like this it looks like it'd be really nice. Becky x

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  2. Mmm, that looks delicious! What a great picture, and what an awesome recipe! If they don't eat it, I will :D

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  3. Oh I love me some spinach!!! Try sauteing it down with a touch of olive oil and fresh garlic...divine with grilled fish. Only down size if that huge bag of fesh spinach shrinks down soooo much. You'd be a perfect addition to my Lighten Up blog hop the 30th of each month. Emai me at neusebrats{at}aol{dot}com if interested :)

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