Lasagna - with lots of garlic!

It's a cold, damp and rainy day here. A perfect day to make some comfort food. I haven't had lasagna in quite some time so I decided it would be a perfect dish to make for dinner.

Lasagna looks complicated, but it really isn't. I even opted to make my own tomato sauce. Since it is December, canned tomatoes are a must. I'm not a fan of tomatoes, but I like to cook with them. I started my sauce with a special kind of tomatoes. A lot of the cooking "pros" and "experts" swear by them so I said "why not". That and I got them at a good price at a local Italian grocery store. They're called San Marzano tomatoes. I could only find whole ones, so I just poured the can into my food processor, gave it a few pulses and I had the base for my sauce.

Here's what you'll need:

1 medium onion
4-5 gloves of garlic chopped,  plus 1 tsp garlic puree
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp chili pepper flakes
1 tsp salt ( I used a special sea salt that I have, which has garlic and basil in it)
1/2 tsp pepper
1 28oz can san Marzano tomatoes (with liquid - crushed or pureed. Unless you like them chunky, then used diced)
1 tub (500ml) of cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated
1 cup (or more) of mozzarella or cheddar or whatever you have in your fridge, grated
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (maybe a little more)
1 package of fresh mushrooms (or one can, rinsed and drained)
1 lb lean ground beef (if you don't use lean, cook it first and drain the fat off or you'll end up with greasy lasagna)
12 Lasagna Noodles (I use whole wheat ones)
2-3 tbsp Olive Oil (I use extra virgin, but use what you have)

In a large, deep sauce pan or pot, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes until it starts to soften. Add the Italian seasoning and chili pepper flakes. Stir. Add in the garlic (not the puree!) and continue to cook until everything has softened and smells wicked.

Add in the mushrooms. Cook for another 5 minutes until the mushrooms have cooked through. Add in the ground beef. Continue to cook until the meat is no longer pink. Pour in the tomatoes. Add salt and pepper. Stir well to combine everything. Allow the sauce to simmer for 20-30 minutes. The sauce will begin to thicken as you cook it. If it gets too thick, add some water to thin it out.

While it's cooking, take the 12 noodles and soak them in warm/hot water. Make sure they're completely covered by the water.

Next, make the cheese filling. Take the cottage cheese and place it in a bowl. Add the parm reggiano and half the parmesan cheese and stir. Add in the garlic puree and some pepper. Stir well and set aside. You can use light or regular cheese, it doesn't matter and in my experience, it doesn't change the taste all all.

Once the sauce has cooked for about a half hour, take it off the heat and allow to cool a little. Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Spray a 13 x 9 pan with cooking spray.

To assemble the lasagna, you're going to need 4 layers of sauce, 3 layers of noodles and 2 layers of cheese sauce. Start by spreading some of the sauce on the bottom of the pan. Top with 3 noodles. Top that with half the cottage cheese mixture. Top that with some more tomato sauce. Repeat (noodles, cheese mix, sauce). The top layer will just be noodles and sauce and then your grated mozzarella/cheddar and any additional parm reg that you might want to add.

Cover the dish with foil and pop it in the oven for 45 minutes, or until the noodles are cooked through and are tender. Remove the foil and top with the rest of the parmesan cheese. Return to the oven and allow it to cook for another 15 minutes or until the cheese is all melted, bubbly and browned lightly.

Remove from the oven and allow the lasagna to rest for 15 or so minutes before you cut it. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for a couple of day or if wrapped well, you can freeze it for a couple of months. Frozen individual pieces make a great lunch or quick evening dinner.

Just so you know, my apartment smells amazing right now! LOL.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!

Sarah

Cauliflower Cheddar Soup

This is one of my "go to" soups. It makes a great weeknight dinner because most of the cooking is done in the crock pot. I can toss everything in and turn it on before I got to work and then when I get home, it's almost all done. I just have to puree it and add a few things and it's done!

1 med-large head of cauliflower (all depends on the size of your crock pot)
1 med onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped (more if you're using a larger cauliflower)
1 rib of celery, chopped (more if you're using a larger cauliflower)
4 cups of chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1-2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. The amount depends on the size of your crock pot. I used a nice, sharp 4 year old raw cheddar. So good!
2 cups half and half or light cream or milk
salt and pepper
chopped chives (optional)

Combine the first 5 ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Puree in a blender in batches or use an immersion blender. Blend it to your desired consistency. I like it really well pureed. Return to the slow cooker. Add in the cream/milk, cheese and Worcestershire sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Turn the slow cooker onto high until soup is heated through. Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped chives (optional) or more shredded cheese. This serves about 6 people.


Enjoy!
Sarah

Pasta and Lentil Soup

I've had so much fun with my other blog (Shenanigans, Nonsense and other Miscellaneous Ramblings) that I decided I would start a second blog solely dedicated to cooking! I should warn you, I'm no pro. I've never had any formal training, other than Family Studies Food classes in high school. My success rate is somewhere around 50/50 and I am a bit of a klutz. I do still have all of my fingers though, so that's a plus.

My apartment smell so amazing right now. It's the first day of autumn and I have a pot of my favourite homemade soup simmering on the stove. How awesome is that??!! It's a rather simple Pasta and Lentil soup that I got out of the October 2011 issue of Food Network Magazine. It's so good, that I had 2 bowls for dinner.

Here's the recipe and my take on making it:

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 onion chopped (or finely chopped if you're like me and don't like onions! But the flavour is great)
4 cloves of garlic, smashed. I sometimes chop them into chunks. If the cloves are small, I use more.
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes - the soup is not spicy. This just adds flavour.
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups low sodium chicken broth (use regular if you want, just be careful with the salt later)
4 cups of water
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus 1 piece cheese rind (optional) - adding the rind adds crazy flavour. I know it sounds odd, but it's good. If you buy parm cheese that hasn't been shredded, you can get a piece with the rind still on it. Just cut it off (you can see a colour difference where the cheese ends and the rind begins) and toss it in!
8 ounces (just over 2 cups uncooked) orecchiette or other small pasta ( I went to a speciality Italian shop to find orecchitte. I've used wagon wheels and small shells before and they all work).
2 14oz cans of lentils  - 1 with liquid and 1 drained and rinsed (Problem I have is that I can only get 19oz cans and it makes a difference when cooking - too thick if you use the 19oz. So I just take 5-6 tbsps, liquid and lentils,  out of each can. I then drain one and continue).
1/3 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley (or cheat like me and use the dried stuff. LOL).
Kosher salt (or just normal salt)

1.Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is slightly soft, 2-3 minutes. If you want, you can remove 1 tbsp of the oil and reserve it to drizzle over the soup later. I skip this. I usually end up burning myself :)
2. Once onion is soft, stir in the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes.

3. Add the chicken stock, water and cheese rind if you're using it. Bring to a boil. Add in the pasta and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Add in the lentils and lentil liquid from one can. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the pasta is tender.

5. If you saved the oil, mix it with 1 tbsp of water and 1 tbsp of fresh parsley. If not, just skip this!
6. Remove the cheese rind (if you added it). Stir in 1/4 cup of the grated parm cheese and the parsley. If you're using fresh, I add about 2tbsp of dried. Stir. Taste the liquid. Add salt to taste.

7. Ladle into bowls and top with the remaining parm cheese and drizzle with the oil if you did that step.
Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!

This takes 35-45 minutes to prepare and feeds 4-6 people. It freezes well. Sometimes when you re-heat it, the pasta gets mushy. If you're going to freeze a lot of it, omit the pasta and freeze. When you're re-heating it, add the pasta and boil for 10 minutes.

I hope you like it as much as I do!

Sarah