savory saturday: spinach&onion lasagne

Ingredients:

1/2 box lasagne noodles

1 jar chunky pasta sauce

1 can tomato sauce

8 oz part-skim ricotta cheese

16 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

spinach (fresh or frozen)

large yellow onion

(or bunch of small ones, if they happen to be at the Farmer's Market!)

parmesan cheese

garlic

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, chop onions (&drink champagne), cook noodles (or use the fancy kind that doesn't require cooking), and microwave spinach.

STEP ONE: spread tomato/pasta sauce (mixture) on the bottom of the pan.

STEP TWO: lay the foundation -- four rows of noodles!

STEP THREE: spread ricotta cheese on the noodles.

STEP FOUR: squeeze excess water out of the spinach, then layer with onions (or any other kind of veggies you'd like to include). Sometimes I sautee the onions first, but I didn't this time and the result was the same, so don't bother!

STEP FIVE: cover the veggies with PLENTY of mozzarella :)

STEP SIX: spread a layer of tomato/pasta sauce over the cheese.

Annnnnnd repeat! When you reach your top layer, spread your remaining sauce and another layer of cheese over the noodles, then sprinkle parmesan cheese and minced garlic over the top. I forgot parmesan this time, but it's definitely worth adding if you have some! Cover the dish with tin foil and bake at 350 F for 40 minutes, then uncover and cook an additional 15 minutes (until the cheese gets brown and bubbly)!

Delicious. I promise you. Enjoy!

savory saturday: mushroom, spinach, ricotta stuffed shells

A few weeks ago, my friend Steph made mushroom, spinach and ricotta stuffed shells while her allergy-ridden husband was out of town, and I couldn't get them out of my mind. When I was trying to think of something to bring to a potluck dinner party last weekend, I decided this would be the perfect thing: easy to share, delicious cold or hot, vegetarian (though I'm the only one that ever seems to matters for) and delicious. And it didn't disappoint. Conveniently, I learned from some of her mistakes and the preparations were incredibly easy and pain-free.

Ingredients:

1 24-oz jar marinara sauce

1 15-oz container part-skim ricotta

20 jumbo pasta shells (about half a 12-oz box)

2 c baby spinach, chopped

2 T chopped fresh basil

8 oz chopped mushrooms

1/2 c grated Parmesan (2 oz)

1/2 c grated mozzarella (4 oz)

black pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop mushrooms into small pieces (more like a dice).

Sauté mushrooms in olive oil while cooking the pasta shells per box instuctions

Chop spinach and basil (I basically just estimated how much I would want and maybe overshot a little but it was still tasty).

Mix mushrooms, spinach and basil into the ricotta until well combined.

Grate fresh parmesan into the mixture (lots and lots!).

Pour marinara sauce into the bottom of an oven-safe pan.

Stuff shells with the filling and place in pan. I didn't even think about it, just dug in with my hands and stuffed the shells that way. It was definitely pretty messy as far as my hands were concerned, but the rest of the kitchen stayed relatively clean.

Sprinkle mozzarella over the top of the shells and bake at 400 F for 11 minutes, then turn on the broiler and bake another 2-3 minutes (until the cheese is brown and bubbly).

I was in a hurry to get out the door so I didn't get a photo of the dish when all was said and done (you'll have to check out Steph's blog for final-product photos). They were a big hit!

savory saturday: macaroni&cheese (&squash&beer bread)

Last weekend it started snowing. A lot. And suddenly I wanted nothing more than to burrow into the couch with a blanket and a fully belly. So I whipped up my very favorite childhood comfort food (yes, I did need to call my mother for guidance): what we used to call "real" macaroni and cheese!

Ingredients:

1/4 c butter

1/4 c flour

milk

sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

In the beginning, there was (1/4 c) butter, melted at the bottom of a large pot.

Then, there was (1/4 c) flour (or perhaps a little more if you like your sauce thick, like me), mixed into the butter to make a roux.

Then, there was skim milk, added slowly but surely to the roux (and I was stirring all the while).

And then there was cheese. Sharp, cheesy cheddar.

And lots of it. I put in as much as I damn well pleased (~1 lb).

I cooked up a big pot of elbow macaroni, drained it, and mixed everything together. Yum! As long as you attend to the roux, this is pretty easy and very delicious. For a side dish, I baked butternut squash and a hearty beer bread:

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (sifted)

1/4 c sugar

3 t baking powder

1 t salt

1 12-oz bottle of beer

Directions:

First there were dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Then, the fun part--beer!

I picked Guinness because I thought it would give the batter a nice creamy consistency.

I watched the batter toil and trouble (and bubble), then stirred it all together and poured into a non-stick bread pan and baked it at 375 for ~1 hour (the time is an approximation because K turned off the oven while the bread was baking, assuming I had been my absent-minded self and forgotten to shut it down after baking my squash):

I think it turned out rather well! The flavor of the beer is very faint, but I'm very curious to try pumpkin beer bread and perhaps other interesting flavors! I spread apple butter on top--it was delicious!

I also finished another puzzle last weekend. Man, am I good or what?

:)

savory saturday: spicy vegetarian chili

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 jalepeno (I used two!)

1 red pepper

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

1 c tomato sauce

4 c water

1 15-oz can black beans (drained)

1 15-oz can pinto beans (drained)

1 15-oz can kidney beans (drained)

1 lb frozen sweet corn, thawed

pepper jack cheese

Directions:

Mince garlic, chop onion and peppers. I used two jalepenos (and extra garlic) because I like my chili *hot*!

Heat oil in large saucepan and sautee onions. Meanwhile, drain beans in a colander and pour a glass of wine for sipping (remember what I said about non-negotiable cooking steps...).

Add garlic, jalepeno, red pepper.

Add oregano and chili powder. Stir/cook ~3 min.

Add beans...

...tomato sauce...

(In the heat of the moment, I accidentally added 3 c of crushed tomatoes, so I just added less water--worked out fine!)

...and corn. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer (20 min).

Crush 1/3 of the beans to thicken the soup--I crushed them against the side of the pan with a fork. Cook another 10 min.

Before the chili started simmering (20 min ago), I pre-heated the oven to 425, placed a cake pan in the oven, and prepared a...

BASIC CORNBREAD

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c cornmeal

3/4 c flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 c whole milk

1 egg

4 T butter, melted

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add milk, egg and melted butter.

Grease pre-heated pan with butter and fill with batter.

Put cornbread in oven just after beans have been added to the chili, and cook 22-25 min, until bread begins to brown.

Butter cornbread, scoop large helping of chili into enormous bowl, top with shredded pepper jack cheese, and...

...Enjoy!