Butternut Squash Lasagna

This past Saturday was the first time I have ever touched or tasted a butternut squash. I had no clue how to prepare it in such as way that my family would want to eat it. After searching various butternut squash recipes, I had to make a choice between risotto and lasagna. That was a hard call to make, harder than the hour that some recipe reviewers spent peeling and chopping their squash. I'm not even going to try to figure out why it took so long or worry that there might be people lazier than me out there. It takes about 5-6 minutes to peel the squash, even with a dying peeler. Please excuse my lame pictures, I cook in the equivalent of a dungeon in terms of lighting.

Here is the basic recipe that I followed. I can't really say it was the same, so here is my recipe:

1 butternut squash, peeled, sliced and roasted (see directions)
1 pkg frozen spinach--use fresh if you have it!
10 boiled lasagna noodles
1/2 stick butter
1/4 c. flour
3 1/2 c whole milk
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
3 c. mozzarella (this is an estimate)
1 clove garlic, chopped
salt
pepper
cayenne
nutmeg

Peel your squash, remove seeds with a spoon, and slice.




Place on baking tray drizzled with olive oil, drizzle squash with more olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast on 350 for about 45 minutes or until squash is tender, but not falling apart.

You can roast the squash earlier in the day, and do the rest later.

Make the roux when you are ready to assemble (right before your pasta is done cooking). Melt butter, add flour and garlic until thickened, add milk and bring to a boil, using a whisk, stir frequently. Add spinach with liquid removed (chopped if you are using fresh). Season with salt, pepper, cayenne and nutmeg to taste. Put a thin layer of liquid down in baking dish and place 3 noodles on top.



Layer mozzarella cheese, squash, and more sauce.





Layer 3 more noodles, more mozzarella, more sauce, and the last 3/4 noodles. I always make an extra one because sometimes they break. On top, pour remaining sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan.







Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes, until lasagna is bubbly and gooey.

Enjoy!

Grilled Tomato Risotto with Roasted Portobellos

The last time I made risotto, 5 years ago it was awful. It took about a year to cook. Well, nott hat long but I royally messed it up. So this was my second attempt ever at making a risotto. I had some ingredients that I wanted to use up and it was a Friday, so it had to be meatless. I found this (click "this" for link):

This is about halfway through before adding the tomatoes.




After adding grilled tomatoes. Don't forget to taste it and add a little salt if needed!











And this is what the dish looks like, assembled with the portobello.

I just want to take a minute here and apologize to Emeril. I know you are probably really excited to see your recipe on my blog, Emeril. I just know you check it every day. And I want to say I am sorry for thinking this recipe would be bland and boring before I actually made it. It was so good, flavorful and I know you would think I did a great job seasoning it. I will make this recipe again and again.

Eggplant Not-Parmesan and Two other Tales

Eggplant is my new favorite vegetable. I've been making variations of this dish for a few months now. I believe that this dish is a combination of so many things that I can now call it my own. So here we go. Ingredients are in red, so they match the sauce.

Eggplant, about 5-7 small, Italian eggplant, sliced about 1/4 inch thick, salted and roasted. Sliced eggplant should be salted to remove excess water and bitterness. I do mine with coarse sea salt in a colander for about 20 minutes. Italian eggplant tends to be less bitter but you can use any variety of eggplant.

Roast eggplant drizzled with olive oil on baking sheets for about 10-20 minutes, switch them about halfway through to ensure they will finish at the same time.

Alright, the sauce for this one happens to be a simple marinara sauce.
Two 28 oz. cans of San Marzano tomatoes and two cloves of garlic pulsed in a food processor. Cook over medium heat with about 2 tbsp olive oil, for 15-20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add about 1 handful of chopped basil, cook for another 5 minutes or so over medium heat.

Now, leave the oven on 350, and in a 9x12 pan, spread a layer of sauce on bottom. You can start your water for your pasta here, too. Layer eggplant with sauce and sliced fresh mozzarella, and about 1/2 cup of a grated hard cheese like Parmesan or Romano. Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until the mozzarella just begins to brown. Serve with a pound of your favorite pasta, fresh grated cheese at the table and if you are like me, a few dashes of crushed red pepper.

I just wanted to share these strawberries that we picked at a local farm, the same one where the eggplant for this recipe came from.
Here I made black raspberry jam, it was my first attempt at jamming. The recipe came from the box of Sure Jell. I would have probably used more pectin if I had not already misread the directions and headed down the slippery slope to runny jam. It did thicken up a bit but not as much as I had hoped. However it is more than edible and I was able to use it in an ice cream recipe. The blackberries came from Costco, if anyone was wondering.

Macaroni and Cheese

By now, I have made this recipe for three consecutive Fridays. I got this recipe from Martha Stewart's new cook book: Cooking School, Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook. (pgs 389-391.) It seems that Martha (can I call her by her first name?) has a lot of Macaroni and Cheese recipes on-line. As far as I know, this one isn't online.

I don't want Martha's cronies, if she has any, coming by and breaking my oven if I infringe on her copyright, otherwise I would love to post this recipe. It contains 4 cheeses, Gruyere, Parmesan, Cheddar, and Fontina. This recipe was a little daunting at first, but after I made it once, it seemed like a piece of cake the second time. I swapped Romano for the Parmesan and made adjustments with the liquids depending on what I had in the fridge. I also doubled the amount as the original amount would probably not feed a hungry family of 4.

The first time I made this, my children were talking to me and I added too much cayenne so it was a little spicy for my husband and daughter, but my son and I loved it.

She also suggests serving roasted tomatoes on top. I did this two weeks ago and it is a wonderful way to make nasty winter tomatoes very tasty and actually flavorful.

Lasagna Roll-Ups

Ingredients:

• 8 cooked lasagna noodles
• 16 oz of your favorite sauce (I used a marinara because this was for a Friday)
• 8 oz (1/2 a large container) of ricotta
• 1 egg
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1 tsp basil
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Mix ricotta, egg, basil salt and pepper
2. Divide mixture evenly onto noodles and roll up
3. Pour sauce over top
4. Top with mozzarella cheese
5. Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes

This was just something that I came up with to be a quick meal. We did not want any leftovers, so I made the exact number of roll-ups that I thought everyone would eat.

Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients

• 20-25 shrimp peeled, de-veined (tails removed, if you prefer)
• 6-8 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 c white wine (I used Chardonnay because it was on hand)
• 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 bunch green onions sliced
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 2 small tomatoes, diced
• sea salt
• pepper
• olive oil
• 1/2 lb fettuccine (or your favorite pasta)
• hard cheese like Romano or Parmesan to serve on top

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, add 2 tbsp olive oil, garlic, shrimp, mushrooms and green onions
2. Saute over medium heat for 3-4 minutes
3. Add wine and butter
4. Add lemon juice, season with salt and pepper to taste
5. Cook until shrimp are completely pink and tender. Careful not to overcook them or they will be like rubber!
6. Add tomatoes and remove from heat.
7. Serve over pasta with grated cheese on top.

PS Please excuse my absence, I have had guests and sickness and busy Holy Days! I hope to get back on track soon!

Easy Salsa Dip

This salsa dip is just cream cheese spread on the bottom of the bowl, covered with salsa and cheese on top. It is one of my favorite quick snacks.

Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

Ingredients:

• 2lbs baby spinach
• 1 package of filo dough (found in the frozen section)
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 8-10 ounces, feta cheese, crumbled
• olive oil
• pepper
• 3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, sautee garlic and green onions in olive oil, about 6 minutes over medium heat.
2. Remove garlic and onions to a large bowl
3. Using same skillet and working in small batches, cook spinach until wilted and add to bowl with green onions and garlic
4. Add feta cheese to your taste (I like a lot) and mix well
   Melt unsalted butter
5. Open filo dough and slice strips of about 3-4 inches in thickness
6. Working quickly, brush butter thinly onto one strip of filo dough, adding about a 2 heaping tbsp of spinach mixture, until it is gone
7. Fold into triangle shape and place on rimmed baking sheet
8. Brush triangles on the outside with remaining butter
9. Bake for 30-45 minutes (or until triangles are a light, golden-brown) on 325

Crustless Egg Bake

Ingredients:

• 1/4 green pepper, diced
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 5-6 button mushrooms, sliced
• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• 10 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. preheat oven to 300
2. beat eggs and add spices
3. layer green peppers and onions on bottom of 9x13 pan
4. layer cheese on top of green peppers
5. layer mushrooms
6. pour melted butter over top
7. pour egg mixture over over layered vegetables and cheese
8. bake at 300 for 45-55 minutes, or until center is cooked