Lasagna

What is your ultimate comfort food? Mine is pasta of every shape, size and color. Sometimes it is great with just butter, sometimes with red sauce and parmesan – spaghetti carbonara, macaroni and cheese, risotto and cold pasta salad. I love it all. But nothing beats a good lasagna. Just the right amount of sauciness, not too much ricotta and the meat and vegetables of your choice. Crunchy on top, soft and piping hot in the middle. Saucy, messy, cheesy goodness: a pick-me-up on a plate.

My mom has making lasagna down to an art, so whenever I make it I think of her. Fast assemblage, even layers. Turkey instead of beef. TONS of mozzarella. Yes, with every bite I can hear “go get ‘em!”, “you can do it!” and “why don’t you relax a little now and then you’ll be prepared to get everything done”. Thanks mama.

Try her fabulously easy recipe. You might even hear her too. “One thing at a time”. “Break it down”. “Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything”. And most importantly “would you care for some lasagna?” Never say more, instead say “some”.

Lasagna

1 package ground meat. I use turkey but you can use beef or even leave it out.

Vegetables of your choice. This time I used:

            1 onion (I actually used half because my onion was abnormally huge)

            1 package mushrooms

            1 zucchini

            1 box cherry tomatoes

1 large can unseasoned tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

3 cloves garlic

basil

lasagna noodles

1 small package ricotta

2 bags shredded mozzarella

1 package shredded parmesan

Preheat oven to 350. In a pot on the back burner of your stove pour the tomato sauce, the diced tomatoes, the garlic cloves (whole), a big swish of olive oil, a torn off clump of basil and lots of s and p. Simmer for as long as possible. In a pan on the front burner cook your meat if using and season lightly. Then wash the pan and sauté your vegetables. I added the mushrooms first (if they get crowded in the pan they don’t brown), then the cherry toms because I wanted them to slowly burst, then the zuc and the onion. When everything is cooked, the fun begins.

 A secret to lasagna is that you do not need to cook the pasta before putting in the casserole, if you do it gets a little too mushy. Note here that I like to buy little loaf pans at the grocery store and make smaller lasagnas so that I can freeze them or give them away – all of the above works for making one large lasagna as well.

Next add the vegetables and the meat:

Next a big handful of mozzarella:

Next ladle the sauce over the pile. Careful not to let the garlic cloves fall in.

Then dot a few dots (about 1 tsp) of ricotta around. If you like it creamy add more.

Then repeat. Add another pasta layer and keep going until the pan is full. I usually get about 2 -3 layers in each dish. On the top add one last pasta rectangle, cover with tomato sauce, sprinkle the mozzarella a little lighter (about half as much as other layers), then cover with parmesan. Cook for 30 mins in the oven, serve hot with more parm if desired. 

Don’t anticipate left overs.

Baked Oatmeal

Brunch is a funny thing. We all associate it with being a treat because our hectic Mon-Fri doesn’t permit for eggs benedict and French toast, and for that reason I love it. Everyone is happy at brunch. Here in Charlottesville brunch means either your parents are in town, your friends parents are in town, or the night before was so notable that you have to celebrate it again with friends. Rehash it over hash browns.

But what do you do when brunch is at someone’s house, and everyone has to bring something? You cant bring pancakes because you cant really use their stovetop. Eggs are too much pressure because they get cold in about 3 minutes and then no one wants them. Biscuits out of a can? That’s cheating. Fruit salad? Way too much work just to be “the person who brings fruit”. Instead - make baked oatmeal.

Aesthetically pleasing (particularly here, all thanks to my photographer friend Grace), healthy and it is different. Good piping hot and at room temp.

Baked Oatmeal

2 cups rolled oats (don’t get the instant kind)

½ cup pecan pieces

1/3 cup brown sugar – plus a little extra

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

pinch salt

2 cups milk

1 egg

4 tbsp butter – melted

1 tbsp vanilla

fruit:

I have used bananas, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries before. All the berries work really well. The bananas dry out pretty easily so make sure you have SUPER ripe ones if you are using them. If not stick to berries. Have about a package of each: about 2/3 – 1 cup. If you use the nambos use about four.

Maple syrup

Preheat oven to 375. Combine the wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls. Cut the banana (if using) into slices and loosely line the bottom of a Pyrex dish. Then sprinkle on the berries, saving a few out. Pour the dry oat mixture on top. Then cover the oats with the milk mixture. Sprinkle the remaining berries and nuts on top. Drizzle a little syrup over it all and bake for about 45 mins. Serve with more syrup or just plain. 

Tea Cupcakes

These aren’t quite cupcakes, but they are not quite tea cakes either. They are like tall, jam filled tea cakes. Fluffy and cinnamon-ey with a warm tart center. All you need is a cup of tea and a partner and you’re in for a great Sunday afternoon. 

Tea Cupcakes 

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

3 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

½ cup butter melted and cooled slightly

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Raspberry jam

Icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the dry ingredients (through cinnamon). Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients bit by bit to the wet.

Grease a muffin pan and fill the cups up about half way with the batter. Spoon a heaped spoonful of jam into the middle of the cup. Then full up the muffin cup with more batter until it almost reaches the top. 

Bake for 12-15 mins until golden around the edges. Dust with icing sugar. Serve warm with tea and cozy socks.

A Vegetarian Dinner: Eggs with Swiss chard, mushrooms, potatoes and a few other things on toast

Vegetarian dinner – so lame right? You can’t be that person ordering the vegetarian main course. Portobello mushroom burger? Get ‘er outta here. Spinach and mushroom burrito? Get ‘er a taxi 'ome.

Actually… so not lame. Prove it? I will. I am about to bring you into the world of filling and delicious vegetarian dinners. You might not even realize it’s vegetarian. Needless to say, your tummy is in for quite a surprise.

Vegetarian Dinner 

4 eggs

2 garlic cloves minced

2 cups new potatoes cut in halves

1 bunch swiss chard

½ yellow onion

1 leek chopped up (leave off the top really tough parts)

1 cup mushrooms sliced

2 handfuls spinach

paprika

grated parmesan

rustic bread (for lack of better terminology -- don't cringe too much)

Wash the vegetables very carefully. Nothing puts you off your dinner like gritty veggies. The leek retains tons of dirt and grit, so what I do is chop it up and then fill a bowl with very cold water and place a strainer down in the bowl. Put the leeks in the strainer and let the dirt soak off. Then rewash. Same goes for the chard.

Swizzle some oil around in a pan on low-ish heat. Add the leek and cook for about 4 mins. Then slice the chard very thinly and dump that in. Add in the potatoes. Cook for like 14 mins or so stirring a LOT. Then add the garlic, mushrooms and onions. Keep stirring. Onions will get soft and translucent. Stir in some salt and pepper and a couple of shakes of paprika. Stir in the spinach and cover the pan for about 4 mins, letting the spinach wilt. Check and make sure that potatoes are getting soft in the middle and crispy outside.

Slice your bread, drizzle with olive oil and pop them in the oven for about 6-8 mins. When they are crispy you can rub them down with a raw garlic clove if you’re feeling wild.

Crank up the pan to about medium heat. Make four little holes in the veggies and carefully crack your eggs in to them. Sprinkle with a handful of parmesan, a shake of paprika and some s and p. Then cover the pan for about 2 mins for the eggs to cook through – about 3 ½ mins if you like your yolks hard. This is sort of a combination of frying and poaching the eggs. Froaching sounds gross though.

Using a spatula scoop up the egg and vegetables and carefully place them on your toast. If you're like me, whack on a couple of dashes of Cholula and dig in.

Try it on a guy and see if he even realizes it’s vegetarian. Better yet, try it on your vegetarian friend and as she gobbles it up let her tell you why the vegetarian path is the right one. Neither way is better – but this dinner is totally delish.