Last week it felt like Summer was dragging it’s feet and Autumn was only just peeking through. Fast forward seven days and I am wearing my slippers and we are lighting our first fire of the year! (it’s not really cold enough yet but it feels like the right thing to do when having a lazy, cosy weekend)
And as promised in my last post, I am going to share one last courgette recipe as I have sadly reached the bottom of my pile of them in the kitchen. This years glut was short lived and a little meagre if truth be told. And so it was enjoyed all the more for it’s skimpiness!
There is one recipe which I always make when in the throws of the glut and this year is no exception. I usually follow this fantastic recipe for Courgette Lasagne from the BBC Good Food website. It’s a really good one for using up lots of lovely courgettes but I do find that it needs a fair amount of salt and benefits from the addition of feta. It’s a great vegetarian crowd pleaser.
So, as I set about making it for supper, I thought that I might try to shake it up a bit. I had a salmon fillet in the freezer which needed using up; in itself insufficient for a complete meal, but incorporated into this lasagne, it stretched to feed a family of four generously!
I also made my own version of the tomato sauce using a few fresh tomatoes from the garden, a little cream and a dash of sherry which works so well with the salmon. The resulting dish was seriously good; creamy, comforting and delicious, everything a good lasagne should be!
It was a fitting send off for our courgettes. I bid them a fond farewell and look forward to working with them again next year…
Salmon & Courgette Lasagne
(Serves 4-6)
700g courgettes, grated
1 tbsp table salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
220g salmon fillet, skinned and cut into chunks
250g Ricotta
50g grated cheddar, plus extra for topping
a handful of chopped chives
6-8 sheets of fresh lasagne
1 tbsp butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
4 small tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp flour
175ml tomato juice
120ml milk
2 tbsp sherry
a dash of cream
Start by grating your courgettes, then place them in a colander sitting over a bowl, stir in the table salt and leave them for 30 minutes to extract as much green juice as you can. See how much came out of mine:
Pre-heat your oven to 220C/200Fan. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil and fry your onion and garlic for 3 minutes, then add your salmon chunks and cook for 2 minutes. Add your grated courgettes and cook for a further 2 minutes. Then add 2/3’s of the ricotta and the cheddar cheese, season well and stir through the chives. Remove from the heat.
Now make the tomato sauce. Melt the butter in a small pan and gently sweat the shallots in it. Throw in your tomatoes and let them soften into the butter.
Stir in your flour and slowly add the tomato juice and milk stirring all the while as it thickens. This will take about 10 minutes. Once you have a nice thick sauce, stir in the sherry and the dash of cream and season.
Assemble your lasagne by layering half the courgette and salmon mixture at the base of an oven proof dish. Top with fresh lasagne sheets. Then spread half the tomato sauce over the lasagne and repeat the layers finishing with tomato sauce. Blob over the last of the ricotta and sprinkle over some grated cheese.
Bake in the oven for just 10 minutes until the cheese is golden on the top.
(ps – it tasted much better than it looks in this photo!)
I am entering this lovely lasagne into a few blogging challenges. First off, one I have not entered for a little while so I am pleased to return to Cooking With Herbs, hosted by lovely Karen from Lavender & Lovage.
Also, as I used up the lone salmon fillet from my freezer and the last of my courgette glut, I think this qualifies for Kate from Turquoise Lemons No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary this month.
And finally, this is my second entry into Four Seasons Food, hosted by myself this month with the theme of ‘Sliding In To Autumn’
Four Seasons Food hosted by Delicieux and Eat Your Veg
That looks amazing! Delicieux!
Thanks Mimi! So glad you like it…it was indeed pretty darn delicious!
Oh that sound lovely Anneli. A perfect ‘Sliding into Autumn’ dish I’d say!. I love a lasagne and yours sounds perfect.
Thanks Lou! It’s nice to actually fancy food like lasagne again after the hot Summer we just had. This one is nice and light and creamy so it fits Autumn nicely. xx
I always like to read other variations for a lasagne and this one could make use of our allotment courgettes, a perfect idea and always good to include fish which I love too 🙂
This certainly uses up lots of courgettes so if you have a glut still, then this is one you should definitely try. Lots of courgettes but not much salmon needed which is an economical ratio! x
I love the sound of this – it’ll be a perfect way to attack my courgette mountain 🙂
Thanks Fiona. This will make a good dent in that mountain for sure! xx
Ooooh, too bad, if I’d thought I would have totally recommended my courgette and tomato tart which can usually plough through a good 3 or 4 courgettes if you slice them thick enough.
This looks great though – I love salmon lasagne. I must admit courgette isn’t my favourite veg of all time but it can be amazing sometimes!
Well it’s not completely over – I just got a couple more yesterday. Your tart is so pretty! And I love anything with feta so thanks for the suggestion! Courgette is definitely one of my favourites – it’s so very versatile. Either way, it works very well with the salmon in this lasagne x
Maybe next week…. I think I have one last courgette that might get big enough (it’s supposed to be sunny next week)
Yeah!! The sun has returned. I hope you manage to harvest a few more courgettes. This lasagne is a great way to use them 🙂 x
I’m sure that your lasagna was delicious…I love that you added salmon with the courgette.
Thanks Karen..it was yummy, creamy and comforting! The salmon just added that extra bit of decadence x
Has anyone ever added a little fresh dill to this recipe?
Dill would be perfect in this recipe and is one of my favourite herbs. I would have added some if I had some in at the time I made it but unfortunately not! Next time though for sure. Great suggestion, thanks very much.!
Sad that courgettes are now at an end. But a fab send off from you.
Thanks Bintu. Indeed it is sad…but make way for all the other Autumnal good stuff! 🙂
Sounds delicious! I love these recipes like this that use a bit of this and that. A great send off for the courgette glut, I think! Thank you for sharing with the No Waste Food Challenge!
You are welcome Elizabeth! I can’t believe it has taken me this long to enter! Hopefully I will be doing so again soon. x
Cooked this last night and can confirm that it is indeed delicious and, for a lasagne, remarkably easy and quick to prepare.
I always enjoy reading your blog. Thank you.