Chicken and vegetable lasagna

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 500 g minced meat (chicken mince)
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 medium-sized onion(s), chopped
• 2 m.-large zucchini, diced
• 2 stalk(s) celery, cut into rings
• 2 medium-sized carrots, diced
• 300 g pumpkin flesh, diced
• 2 can/n pizza tomatoes, 400 g each
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 125 ml white wine
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp basil, chopped
• 500 g leaf spinach, frozen, thawed
• 500 g cottage cheese or cream cheese, low-fat
• 450 g ricotta
• 60 ml skimmed milk
• ½ tsp nutmeg, grated
• 35 g Parmesan, grated
• 250 g lasagna sheet(s) without pre-cooking
• 1 cube of vegetable stock or chicken stock (or 2 cubes if you like)
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 45 minutes

light and tasty, without béchamel sauce

Heat the oil in a large, non-stick saucepan. Brown the minced chicken in batches, breaking up any lumps. Remove and set aside. Sauté the garlic and onion in the pan until softened. Return the chicken to the pan and add the zucchini, celery, carrots, pumpkin, tomatoes, thyme, bay leaves, stock cubes, wine, and tomato paste, and bring to a simmer. Cook in a covered pan for 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs, stir in the fresh basil, season with salt and pepper, and set the sauce aside. Roughly chop the spinach and set aside. Mix together the cottage cheese or cream cheese, ricotta, skimmed milk, nutmeg, and half of the Parmesan cheese. Season with salt to taste. Spread some of the sauce on the bottom of a non-stick baking dish and cover with a layer of lasagna sheets. Pour half of the remaining sauce on top, then spread the spinach and half of the cottage cheese mixture on top. Continue with another layer of lasagna sheets, the remaining vegetable sauce, and more lasagna sheets. Spread the remaining cottage cheese mixture on top and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 40-50 minutes until golden brown. The top layer may rise slightly, but it will sink back down as it cools.