Do you find you are spending lots of time in the kitchen this time of year? I love baking in the winter time. Nothing is better than turning the oven on to 350`, dragging out all the big bowls and rummaging around in the pantry and refrigerator. I love to get creative and use up all those little bits of stuff left in the fridge. I just made a wonderful vegetarian lasagna using this method. I had a big bag of spinach from Sam’s that was about two thirds full, half a red pepper, one small zucchini, three tablespoons of olive tapenade, a few sun dried tomatoes, and a cup or so of parmesan cheese. Here’s what I did:
Put water on to boil for the lasagna noodles. In a deep skillet put two tablespoons olive oil, a couple cloves of garlic (I keep a jar of roasted garlic in oil on hand) and sauté for a minute or so until the oil is hot and garlic nicely golden if using fresh. First I add zucchini sliced very thin on the mandoline, then a tablespoon of Italian Seasonings or one tablespoon of any combination of basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, etc. Next sauté the zucchini until soft. Put in a dish and set aside leaving any extra oil in the skillet.
Next, a little more olive oil in the skillet, a little more garlic, then add the washed spinach. Cover with the lid and let steam for a few minutes. Toss to coat with oil until wilted and cooked. Remove spinach and set in a colander. Mash against the sides to get out liquid. Chop evenly. Set aside. Slice red pepper thinly on mandoline. Saute in skillet in remaining oil and liquid from spinach until soft. Remove from skillet leaving in any liquid. Set peppers aside.
In same skillet add a little more oil and a can of crushed tomatoes. Here is where I added a few tablespoons of olive tapenade and a few sun dried tomatoes soaked in water for a few minutes. Chop tomatoes and add along with the soaking water to the skillet. Add more herbs if you like. Mix together and cook until liquid is reduced and sauce is thick. Next boil the lasagna noodles according to package direction. While boiling, get ingredients ready for the assembly line. Don’t forget to have your cheese ready, some serving spoons and of course the pan. I used a rectangular pan that fit the size of the noodles. Spray the pan with PAM to make cleanup easier. I cooked the noodles al dente and put in a colander.
Now for the fun! Ladle enough tomato sauce to cover the bottom of the pan, put in one layer of lasagna noodles, spread half the chopped spinach evenly over the noodles, add one third of the tomato sauce, sprinkle with cheese and add the next layer of noodles. Next, layer all the zucchini, one third tomato sauce, cheese and next layer of noodles. Add remaining chopped spinach, red pepper slices, remaining tomato sauce and cheese to taste. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until bubbling.
Add your own variations. Mushrooms and onions sautéed in garlic and oil (of course!) add lots of flavor, or use a mix of red, green and yellow peppers. Yellow squash is good. If you don’t have time to cook the tomatoes, use your favorite spaghetti sauce in a jar. If you use frozen spinach, put it in a colander and rinse with warm water until thawed. No need to sauté it, just squeeze as much excess water out as you can. Lasagna that holds together well and cuts clean is accomplished by reducing any excess liquid from the ingredients. This recipe is also good minus the cheese if you are looking for lots of flavor and not a lot of fat. Or put one pound tofu in the food processor with two tablespoons olive oil, salt to taste and a dash of nutmeg and voila!, you have ricotta cheese! Your family will never know the difference!
Let me know your favorite variation on this old favorite.