Fish and spinach ‘lasagne’
It is probably a crime against Italian cuisine to call a dish without pasta sheets a ‘lasagne’. But, if wanted, one could include pasta sheets between the fish and spinach layers to justify the name (although this recipe would not benefit much from this addition).
Ingredients
- 400 g white fish (cod, or whatever is preferred), no skin, in large pieces
- salt, white pepper
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (no fear, there will be no acidity in the final food; the lemon juice just seasons the fish)
- 400 g spinach, washed
- pinch of ground nutmeg
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 5 tbsp butter
- 50 ml cream
- 50 ml crème fraiche
- 2 small eggs
- 100 g finely grated cheese (such as Gouda, Gruyère, Pecorino, or Cheddar)
Method
- Grease a flat ovenproof dish with butter, set aside. Preheat oven to 200 °C. Season fish with salt, pepper and lemon juice, set aside. Melt butter in a large saucepan, add garlic cloves and sweat for a few minutes. Add spinach and cook until softened and collapsed (no need to add water, there is enough water clinging to the leaves from washing it). Remove spinach from saucepan and drain excess liquid (if necessary), chop cooked spinach finely and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper, set aside.
- Lightly whip eggs with cream and crème fraiche, add grated cheese and mix well.
- Place half of the spinach as the bottom layer in the baking dish, use the fish pieces to form the second layer, followed by a third layer of the remaining spinach. Pour the cream/cheese mixture over the top layer, then dot surface with small butter pieces. Bake for 30 minutes until surface is bubbly and golden-brown.