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Individual Lasagna
What to do when you are wanting something new AND you are a vegetarian? I turn to pasta. I’d found an interesting recipe on the internet for individual lasagna - and I thought, why not?
So, I got out my Jamie Oliver cookbook (Jamie’s Italy) and found a recipe for the pasta, looked around my kitchen and thought - what the heck. Let’s give it a go. So I did.
First I put 2 cups of cake flour (it was the only really fine flour at the grocery store) and made a well in the middle where I put 3 hole, organic eggs…
I mixed the eggs, then stirred in the flour. When I’d gotten most of the flour incorporated I added a bit to my hands and kneaded the dough until it was oh-so-smooth. I then put it in a clean bowl covered with cling film and sat it in the fridge for about 30 min to rest.
While that was going on I looked at my gorgeous veggies (and fruits) that were just waiting to be consumed…
I had some asparagus in the freezer and thought it would be an interesting addition. So I chopped some of the tomatoes and steamed some asparagus…
I then grated about 2 cloves of garlic into a pot that I’d placed some olive oil …
By then it had been close to 30 min, so I put on some water to boil. When it was almost boiling I got out my ball of pasta and took half of it (leaving the other half for later). I divided my half into four little balls and began rolling them out…
When the water boiled I added some salt — and then turned on the heat under the pan that had the olive oil in it. When the garlic began to sizzle, I turned the heat down and added the tomatoes and asparagus.
I took my pasta, which had been somewhat drying
and added it to the boiling water - a piece at a time. I let it boil for about 2-3 minutes (it was thin) and while it did I kept an eye on the “sauce”, stirring every now and then. When the pasta was done I turned off the sauce and drained the pasta. I then took a long piece of pasta and put part of it on the plate, adding some sauce. I folded the pasta over the filling and put a bit more sauce on it. I did this a final time and the topped with a bit more sauce. I made 2 of these for my dinner - drizzling olive oil over the top. Are then not beautiful?
And the taste? FANTASTIC!!!
PS - the recipe from the internet? It had a picture so it was my inspiration. It had a red sauce and other things, mine didn’t.
Raspberry Crepes
Yum. Is there anything as diverse or elegant as a crepe? I don’t think so. And this morning I just had to have some. I have some raspberries in the freezer, left over from this past summer and they were just calling my name. And so, raspberry crepes for breakfast is what was on the menu.
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 1/4 cup milk
Put these three ingredients in a blender and, well, you know, blend. Heat your pan (preferably non-stick) and when it’s hot pour a little batter onto the pan. Pick up the pan and tilt it around a bit to make sure your crepes are nice and thin.
When they brown a bit, using fingers, pick them up and turn them over to brown the other side.
To assemble I put the crepe down and put my raspberries in a line (or two) down the middle. Then I sprinkle with powdered sugar (just a bit) and roll them up. I generally top with a bit of whipped cream and another couple of raspberries.
Perfect with my morning coffee!
No Bake Cookies
2 cups sugar
3 Tbsp cocoa
.5 cup butter
.5 cup milk
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups quick cooking oats
.5 cup peanut butter
Put all ingredients except oats and peanut butter in a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat. Once you have a rolling boil let boil without stirring for 1 minute. Remove from heat, add peanut butter and oats stirring well and drop by the spoonful on wax paper or tinfoil to cool.
Yummy!
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Now playing: Chris Whiteley - It’s The Natural Thing To Do
via FoxyTunes
Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
Really, what goes together better than peanut butter and chocolate?
Cupcakes
6 Tbsp cocoa
1.5 c. sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 c. flour
1 tsp vanilla
.75 c. vegetable oil
1 c. cold water
Sift together the cocoa, sugar, salt, baking soda and flour. Set aside. Using a mixer, mix the eggs, vanilla, oil and cold water until creamy. Slowly add the dry ingredients until well incorporated. Pour into 24 muffin cups and bake at 375 for 20 minutes.
Peanut Butter Frosting
.5 c. butter softened
1 c. peanut butter (smooth)
3 Tbsp milk
2 c. powdered sugar
Mix all ingredients until light and fluffy, you may need to add a tad more milk.
Moroccan Chicken
This is a recip
e that I adapted from Mediterranean Light by Martha Rose Shulman. The original recipe uses fish instead of chicken.
12 cloves garlic 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bunch cilantro 1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin dried red pepper (to taste)
juice of 2 large lemons (6 Tbs) 1 teaspoon olive oil
12 ounces chicken (I use boneless, skinless breasts)
Put all of the ingredients (except meat) in a food processor and blend.
Now put your chicken into a baggie and pour in the contents of the food processor. Squeeze well to coat all of the chicken. Marinate in the fridge overnight (up to a day or two). Your kitchen will smell wonderful!!
You have several choices on how to cook this dish - grilled outside, indoor grill or bake in an oven - and each method will bring out a slightly different flavor. I chose to use my indoor grill and this was the result (but note, I didn’t have any paprika so I left it out which resulted in a much greener marinade):
Tomato & Red Lentil Soup
1/2 Onion, minced
2 stalks celery, diced fine
1 carrot, shredded
1/2 green bell pepper, diced fine
Olive Oil Spray / Pam
1 3oz ham steak, diced (optional)
28 oz canned crushed tomatoes (I use Fasolino’s)
1 tsp cumin
2 bay leaves
.5 tsp paprika
1 cup red lentils, rinsed
2 cups fat free, low sodium chicken broth (or veg broth)
Saute the onions, celery, carrots and bell peppers over med-high heat in some olive oil spray until soft, add in ham steak and saute another few minutes. Add in the canned tomatoes, lentils, broth and spices and simmer over low heat until lentils are soft and tender.
At this point you can put in your immersion blender to blend to the consistency that you desire. Sometimes I like it smooth, other times I leave it chunky.
New Home
The recipes below this post are from our previous blog home “In the Kitchen”. The date in the parenthesis are the date of the original posts. The recipes above this are our new ones.
Chicken and Noodles - My “Thai” Version
Porcini Pasta Bake
This is based off the recipe Spaghetti Tetrazzini in Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Italy. It is one of my all time favorite recipes because I LOVE the taste of porcini mushrooms!
This recipe makes 2-3 servings.
Put water on to boil for the pasta (remember to salt the water after it boils). Put the mushrooms in a bowl and cover with boiling water.
Put the olive oil (about 2 tsp) in a pan. Add the garlic and gentle saute for a couple of minutes. Drain the mushrooms, SAVING THE JUICE, and add them to the pan with the olive oil and garlic. Gently stir and let cook for a few minutes. Add the reserved mushroom juice, bring to a boil and then reduce heat and let simmer while the pasta cooks.
Just before the pasta is done, add the cream to the mushrooms. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and then turn off.
Drain the pasta and add to the mushrooms. Stir in 2 oz of the cheese. Pour into an oven proof baking dish and top with the remaining cheese. Cook for about 20-30 minutes, until bubbly and golden brown.
(12/16/08)
Clementine Cake
This recipe is from Nigella Lawson’s “How To Eat, The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food“.