My delightful ugly duckling. It doesn’t look like much (mainly due to my inability to cut a photogenic piece of lasagne), but this delightful and healthy twist on a family classic is surprisingly quick to make and packed full of flavour. It will certainly make you think twice before reaching for a frozen, store bought, cardboard flavoured, soggy textured lasagne ever again!

For the vegetarian version, ditch the pork mince. Finely slice 200g pumpkin and roast until slightly soft. Don’t add to the garlic, onion, tomato mix; instead, add when constructing the layers.

Ingredients (serves 6 to 8)

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 brown onion
• 1 red capsicum
• 500g extra lean pork mince
• 1 large tin diced tomatoes
• 2 medium sized eggplants
• 100g baby spinach leaves
• 300g fresh ricotta
• 250g light tasty cheese
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano and parsley

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200*C.
2. Brown the onion, garlic and pork in oil in a saucepan.
3. Add the capsicum and tomatoes, and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Finely slice the eggplants widthways.
5. To construct the lasagne, alternate between two layers – the ricotta, herbs and spinach; and the meat mix – with eggplant slices in between.
6. Cover with tasty cheese and bake until golden brown and eggplant is soft.