Monday, October 24, 2011
Food for comfort: Vegetable Lasagna
Food for comfort: Vegetable Lasagna: At it again in the kitchen. Last week my friend and I had a craving for pasta....and white sauce. After much googling/blog stalking I decide...
Vegetable Lasagna
At it again in the kitchen. Last week my friend and I had a craving for pasta....and white sauce. After much googling/blog stalking I decided we should make a veggie lasagna. As always I ended up making my own creation using many other recipes as guides. This lasagna is stocked full of veggies, and I don't think you will miss the meat! Feel free to use/substitute any vegetables of your choice. :) Note: This is NOT a quick meal to make, so prepare to spend at least an hour prepping.
Ingredients:
1 yellow squash, diced
1 zuccini, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 container of baby bella mushrooms
1 medium onion, diced
1 large can whole tomatoes
1 head of garlic: 4 cloves minced, 4 cloves smashed
1 box frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
1 container of ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan(not the powdered nonsense....the real thing!)
1 cup white wine of your choice
1 box no cook lasagna noodles(my box had 12 noodles in it)
2 eggs
4 tbs butter
4 tbs flour
2 cups milk
2 tbs EVOO
13 x 9 glass pan
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Spray 13x9 pan with Pam.
In large skillet over medium heat saute squash, zucchini, onion, pepper,and 4 minced garlic cloves in 2 tbs EVOO. Add mushrooms last. DO NOT add salt until mushrooms have sauteed. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour in 1/2 cup white wine. Using your hands, crush whole tomatoes into veggie mixture. Careful! This is messy! Cook for another 5 minutes then turn off heat.
In sauce pan add 4 tbs butter and heat on low heat with 4 smashes garlic cloves. Low heat is important since you do not want to burn your garlic. This process will allow the garlic flavor to infuse throughout the butter. YUM! Once butter is melted, sprinkle in 4 tbs flour and stir. Increase heat to medium and add 2 cups milk. Whisk constantly until mixture becomes thick. Add 1/2 cup white wine,1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer. (you have just made a beschamel sauce!)
In small mixing bowl combine drained spinach with container of ricotta and 2 eggs.
In bottom of 13x9 pan spread 1/4 of your veggie mixture. Place 3 noddles on top. Spread 1/3 ricotta mixture over noodles, 1/4 veggie mixture, 1/4 beschamel sauce. 2 layers noodles, ricotta, veggies, sauce. Last layer is noodles, beschamel, and your mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. You should have 4 layers of noodles, 3 noodles per layer. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. After 30 min, uncover and cook for 10 more minutes. If the cheese doesn't brown like you would like, turn the broiler on for 5 minutes. Let sit for about 10 minutes after removing from the oven.
This is so decadent it is worth taking the time to make!
Ingredients:
1 yellow squash, diced
1 zuccini, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 container of baby bella mushrooms
1 medium onion, diced
1 large can whole tomatoes
1 head of garlic: 4 cloves minced, 4 cloves smashed
1 box frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
1 container of ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan(not the powdered nonsense....the real thing!)
1 cup white wine of your choice
1 box no cook lasagna noodles(my box had 12 noodles in it)
2 eggs
4 tbs butter
4 tbs flour
2 cups milk
2 tbs EVOO
13 x 9 glass pan
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Spray 13x9 pan with Pam.
In large skillet over medium heat saute squash, zucchini, onion, pepper,and 4 minced garlic cloves in 2 tbs EVOO. Add mushrooms last. DO NOT add salt until mushrooms have sauteed. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour in 1/2 cup white wine. Using your hands, crush whole tomatoes into veggie mixture. Careful! This is messy! Cook for another 5 minutes then turn off heat.
In sauce pan add 4 tbs butter and heat on low heat with 4 smashes garlic cloves. Low heat is important since you do not want to burn your garlic. This process will allow the garlic flavor to infuse throughout the butter. YUM! Once butter is melted, sprinkle in 4 tbs flour and stir. Increase heat to medium and add 2 cups milk. Whisk constantly until mixture becomes thick. Add 1/2 cup white wine,1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer. (you have just made a beschamel sauce!)
In small mixing bowl combine drained spinach with container of ricotta and 2 eggs.
In bottom of 13x9 pan spread 1/4 of your veggie mixture. Place 3 noddles on top. Spread 1/3 ricotta mixture over noodles, 1/4 veggie mixture, 1/4 beschamel sauce. 2 layers noodles, ricotta, veggies, sauce. Last layer is noodles, beschamel, and your mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. You should have 4 layers of noodles, 3 noodles per layer. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. After 30 min, uncover and cook for 10 more minutes. If the cheese doesn't brown like you would like, turn the broiler on for 5 minutes. Let sit for about 10 minutes after removing from the oven.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
It's Pumpkin time!
Another pumpkin recipe! Just made this one tonight and it is quite tasty! It is a recipe for mini chocolate pumpkin brownies. Once again I married pumpkin and chocolate together. :) If you think you aren't a pumpkin lover, try either of my new recipes. I might be able to change your mind. The following recipe makes 15 mini brownies.
Pumpkin Brownies:
Pumpkin Brownies:
Ingredients
2 Tbs unsalted butter
4 squares bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
sprinkle of cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 c plus 2 Tbs sugar
1 large egg
1/2 Tbs pure vanilla extract
1/4 c plus 2 Tbs pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 c chopped pecans
1/4 c mini semisweet chocolate chips
4 squares bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
sprinkle of cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 c plus 2 Tbs sugar
1 large egg
1/2 Tbs pure vanilla extract
1/4 c plus 2 Tbs pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 c chopped pecans
1/4 c mini semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Spray mini muffin tin with cooking spray. In microwave safe bowl melt chocolate and butter. (about 1 min) In small bowl combine flour, baking powder, cayenne pepper, and salt. In another bowl combine egg, vanilla, and sugar. Beat with mixer for a couple of minutes. Add flour mixture and stir to combine. Divide the batter adding half to the melted chocolate and the other half add pumpkin and cinnamon. (you should have 2 bowls now. 1 with chocolate batter, and 1 with pumpkin batter.) Fill the muffin pans with brownie mixture first and top with pumpkin batter. Sprinkle with pecans/mini chocolate chips. Bake for 20 minutes.
Pictures to come later! :)
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