Lasagna

Lasagna is as Italian as it gets, and here in North America is has to be one of the most popular comfort foods among the masses. With popularity however come variety, and the Internet is overwhelmed with variations from all over on how one can create this dish consisting of pasta, sauce and cheese.

To me, there are many ways to make an excellent lasagna, but for me personally there are a few key things I want mine to consist of. I like a rich, flavorful and meaty tomato based sauce, I like a layer of ricotta cheese blended with spinach, garlic and parmasan cheese, and of course there has to me lots of gooey, mozzarella on top.
Some lasagna recipes can be very complex with three sauces and two different cheese blends. For this recipe I use just one sauce (a meat sauce...although you can use whichever favorite tomato based sauce you like), a simple ricotta cheese mixture featuring spinach and artichokes (think hot spinach artichoke dip), and I finish it off with grated mozzarella.

Lasagna

Tomato Based Sauce: Check out my recipes for my family's meat sauce, bolognese or simple marinara.

Ricotta Mixture:

Ingredients:

• 24 ounce tub whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1  package of chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 can artichokes, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• fresh chopped parsley (and other Italian herbs of choice)
• 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp each of salt and pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well until evenly distributed. Reserve for layering in the lasagna.

Lasagna:

Ingredients:

• Ricotta filling
• Tomato or meat sauce
• lasagna pasta, cooked
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (or other hard Italian cheese), grated
• fresh chopped parsley

Directions:

If you don't have the tomato sauce made ahead of time, do that first as it is the most time consuming. The next step is to bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the lasagna pasta just to al dente, according to package direction (I find 1 standard size package is more than enough, but I usually cook it all and let my pup enjoy the leftover pasta).While the pasta is cooking prepare the ricotta mixture. It's pretty simply to bring together. One of the most important things to do is insure the thawed spinach is squeezed of all its water as you don't want a watery filling. 

Once the pasta is cooked and cooled enough to handle, begin assembling your pasta. Preheat the oven to 375 and get a large casserole pan (approximately 9x13 inches or similar are typical). Ladle in a little red sauce, about 1.5- 2 cups to cover the bottom of the pan and then add a layer of lasagna noodles.Next add a thick layer of red sauce (about 3 cups) and a 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, followed by a second layer of pasta. Next add the entire ricotta mixture and a third layer of pasta. Repeat with another thick layer of red sauce and the remaining parmesan cheese. Lastly, add the forth layer of pasta followed by a thin layer of red sauce and the 2 cups of mozzarella cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake uncovered for another 15 minutes is until the top is browned and bubbly. Serve with a nice green salad, garlic bread and a good red wine.

Pantry Stuffed Chicken Breast

One of the first "fancy" things I ever cooked were stuffed chicken breast roll-ups. It was a tasty recipe I got from the Downhome Almanac & Cookbook which was a gift to Mom for Mother's Day one year. The recipe featured boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded flat, dipped in melted butter, dredged in Newfoundland style bread crumbs (breadcrumbs seasoned with salt, pepper and savory), rolled up and baked in the oven. As I remember these were tasty and always a hit.

I don't make this recipe as much as I used to, but I am sometimes inspired by the technique to make other kinds of stuffed chicken breast roll-ups.The following recipe was created by picking ingredients out of my fridge one day after work. I had thawed some chicken breast, pounded them flat between two pieces of plastic wrap and set them in a bowl to quickly marinate in some olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and zest and fresh herbs. I then started picking through my stockpile of condiments in the fridge, namely marinated artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, roasted red bell pepper, hot cherry peppers, and capers. I guessed on how much to use of each ingredient, chopped them up, and added some chopped parsley, oregano and garlic. I also had some leftover Gorgonzola cheese on hand so I put a small handful of the pungent cheese in the stuffing mixture as well. Each marinated chicken breast was then dredged in some store bought fine breadcrumbs, a big dollop of the stuffing went down on each breast (near the end, not in the middle), and then each breast was rolled up like a burrito, trying my best to tuck in the sides so the stuffing didn't spill out. The last step was to lace the stuffed breasts seam side down on an oiled baking sheet. Each breast received an extra drizzle of olive oil over the top and in they went to a hot 400 oven to cook for about 30 minutes.As you can see in the photos they came out crisp and golden brown! A side of roasted potatoes, carrots and green beans made for a memorable weeknight supper.


I'm not providing an ingredient list for this recipe for a couple of reasons. For one, I didn't measure how much of each ingredient I used....I just made it work. What didn't fit in each breast was spooned over the top and cooked in with the crust. Secondly, the possibilities are endless as to what ingredients you can put in your stuffing. In the past I've tried Tex-Mex style with pepper jack cheese, pickled jalapenos and tomatoes, and Greek style with spinach and feta. The possibilities are endless. The goal here is to get creative and use what you like and what you have on hand. Let me know what you come up with!