A New Savoury Lasagna Invention

A friend of mine made some gorgeous sweet potato enchiladas the other week and they really got me thinking about what else the versatile vegetable can be used in. First thing that came into my mind was canneloni, and shortly afterwards: this lasagna. It’s a huge carb overload, but oh so satisfying and delightful. I’m also quite happy with the sauce, which is a spin off bechamel – creamy with nutmeg, and has a kick with some spice too. It’s also really filling, so I’d recommend that if you want to have it with a few other courses to treat this recipe as though it was intended for 4 people instead. Other than that, here it is, it’s really simple to put together, hope you enjoy it.

Here’s a quick overview of the recipe, if you want the one with all the jazzy photos, then please do click this link for the full version.

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Servings: 3
Ingredients:

200 grams of cheddar cheese
1 kg of Sweet Potatoes (It’s the main filling, so there’s a lot of it)
150ml of milk
150ml of single cream
2 egg yolks
5 grams (1 teaspoon) of ground nutmeg
5 grams (1 teaspoon) of paprika (Optional)
12 lasagna sheets
A few basil leaves for topping
Plenty of salt for seasoning

Method:

Peel your sweet potatoes so that they’re naked insides are exposed for all to see. Chop them into small cubes and put into a large saucepan on high heat. Fill up the saucepan with water and at least 2 spoonfuls of salt. Let them cook for about 20 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the sauce. Put a wide saucepan on medium heat. Add the milk, cream, 50 grams of cheese and egg yolks. Continuously mix it as they heat up and just make sure it doesn’t boil.
Once the mixture’s all combined, add the nutmeg and paprika. Put in some salt as well. Let it cook on a low heat for 2-3 minutes and then set aside. It’ll still be quite watery, but that’s fine.
Test to see if the potatoes are cooked by poking them with a fork. If it goes straight through without any effort, they’re cooked. Remove them from the heat and drain out the water.
Mash up the sweet potatoes, and add about a quarter of the sauce you made earlier. Mix it in quite well. This is going to be the filling for the lasagna. Have a little taste and add more salt if you think it’s needed.
Preheat the oven to 180C / 350 F and get ready to set up the lasagna. Spread some sauce on the bottom of a deep baking dish. Place 3 sheets of lasagna to make the base.
Alternate between lasagna sheets, mashed sweet potatoes, sauce and a sprinkle of grated cheddar cheese until you reach the top layer of just sheets.
Pour and spread the remaining sauce on top of the lasagna sheets. Sprinkle on a generous helping of grated cheese. This’ll all melt and become nicely crisp in the oven. Add some fresh basil leaves on top, chop them if you like.
Put it in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the lasagna sheets feel fully cooked. Serve it nice and hot, yum yum.