Lasagna - A Work in Progress

I don't know what I'm trying to prove sometimes.  I heard the words come out of my mouth, "I'm making lasagna from scratch, from the sauces to the pasta sheets".  I was mortified!!  Now, I just had to follow through.

When all was said and done, and eaten, the jury was in from all my "birthday" taste testers.  The room got extremely quiet (always a good sign as everyone filled their mouths and bellies with the lasagna).  I'm always my worst critic.  The pasta noodles were wonderfully soft, the bechamel great, but next time I'll reduce the amount.  

The Bolognese sauce will, again, be revised.  Maybe just my simple marinara, huh?  I'll add my hubby's favorite spicy Italian sausage back in.  And last but not least, I may hire a kitchen clean up crew!  It took me longer to clean up the kitchen than it did to make noodles from scratch!

kitchen help needed!

more dishes

bechamel ready

ready for pasta making

pasta before kneading

ready to roll!

ah...finito!  time to assemble!

Was it worth the trouble?  Of course!  I found the act of pasta making to be relaxing (I know that's warped thinking!), but true.

It was not Zeno's lasagna from Costa Rica, but it's getting very close!  Sorry, no recipe until the process is complete!

My Marinara

You've all probably heard of sauce referred to as Marinara, tomato, pomodoro. puttanesca, Bolognese, Sunday gravy, etc, etc.  I'm sure the list goes on.  Marinara is a simple tomato sauce I use for a quick sauce, one that doesn't require  hours to cook.  Depending on the region of Italy you come from, or how you want to use the sauce, will depend on what recipe you'll use.  Or, maybe, you have a "secret" family recipe that has been passed down for years.

Then there are those of us who had to travel to Italy to finally "get it", come home and start to experiment in the kitchen to get it right.  Or travel to Costa Rica, of all places, to have the BEST lasagna on the planet.   After years of trial and error with sauces I made this one recently to go on some fried eggplant.  So, as far as Marinara goes, I'm done.  Sunday sauce or a good Bolognese is still being "developed".

Now, I do have a great sauce recipe from family, but if I posted it, I'd have the mafia coming to break both my arms!  (just kidding, I hope) Until another time....enjoy this simple marinara.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 medium onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, sliced

28 oz. can of diced or whole tomatoes, cut up

1 Tbsp dried oregano  (next time I will omit this, don't much care for oregano)

1 handful torn up fresh basil

1 package of truvia sweetener (or use sugar)

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup tomato paste

1/4 - 1/2 cup red wine

In a large pot, heat the oil, add onions and cook until soft.  Add the garlic, stir for a minute, then add the tomatoes, oregano, basil, truvia , salt, tomato paste and wine.  Stir well, bring it to a slow boil, cover loosely, and reduce the heat to low.  Simmer on low for about 30 minutes or longer.

Pour sauce into a blender and puree to the consistency you want.  You can also leave some chunks in your sauce if you like that.  You're in control!  Now adorn your eggplant or pasta with this marinara.  Mangia! (Eat!)

Note:  The top picture is before it went into the blender.

Marinara on zucchini and eggplant

Zucchini Patties

Is your  kitchen counter overflowing with zucchini, yet?  Mine is, but I don't mind.  There's so much you can do with this vegetable!  I've been hiding it in bread, cake, assorted vegetable dishes and now the classic zucchini patties.  At least they were a classic in my home for many years.

I've pretty much thrown ingredients together over the years, sometimes getting good and some bad results.  The most important thing you can do to insure the best result would be to press all the liquid you can from the grated zucchini.  If you don't, they will ooze and run all over the place.  These zucchini patties were moist on the inside, yet crispy on the outside.  So, if you're searching for another zucchini recipe, try this one.

Ingredients:

2 cups grated zucchini, liquid drained

1/4 cup diced onion

2 Tbsp flour

1 tsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp either plain Greek yogurt, mayo or an egg  (use what you prefer.  I used Greek yogurt this time.)

salt & pepper to taste

 For the coating:

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1 small egg

For the pan:

a combination of 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp of butter

In a bowl mix the zucchini, onion, flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Stir in either the yogurt, mayo or egg.  The mixture should be stiff enough to form a patty.  It may help to moisten your hands with a bit of water first.  Yes, it is messy!  As you make each patty, gently set them onto a sheet of waxed paper.  These patties were roughly 2 1/2 inches in diameter.  The recipe makes about 6-8 patties depending on size. 

In 2 different pie plates or shallow dishes, put the bread crumbs in one and the beaten egg in another.  Heat the oil/butter combo in a large skillet.  Turn up the heat to medium and gently start to dredge the each patty in egg first, then coat with breadcrumbs.  Quick note for first timers:  You may want to coat them ALL first and lay them back onto the waxed paper if you can't work quick enough.

Cook on the first side for about 6-8 minutes, turn and continue to cook for about the same time.  The coating will get quite brown but not to worry.  They're really tasty.

Fruity Homemade Granola

I've been known to make some healthy food around here.  It's not all pasta and desserts.  Usually I'll cook mostly veggie concoctions and chicken or fish until my hubby has a hankering for a hunk of meat!  

This granola recipe was adapted from Heidi Swanson's book called, "Super Natural Cooking".  My almost daughter-in-law loaned it to me for inspiration.   I scaled back the amounts to make half a batch.  Although I've made granola before, this batch was hands down more flavorful than the one of the past.  It's a keeper!  Delicious by itself or as a topping with yogurt.

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped nuts.  Any assortment will do.

2/3 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds, shelled of course

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

3/4 cup dried fruits.  I used dried blueberries,  chopped mango and chopped pineapple.

1 tsp of  ginger root zest

1 tsp of  orange peel zest

1/2 cup honey

1/8 cup coconut oil

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a large bowl combine the oats, nuts, sunflower seeds, coconut, dried fruit, ginger and orange zest.  Stir to blend.  In a small saucepan heat the honey and coconut oil on low heat a few minutes until it thins out.  Pour this over the oat mixture and mix well until coated.  Spread onto a baking sheet (cookie sheet) and bake for a total of 40 minutes.  During this time stir every 10 minutes.  Cool and store.

Welcome Un Caffe to Reno

I now have a new "favorite place"  for Italian food.  If I lived in one of those hill towns you see in all the Tuscany pictures, you know the ones with rolling hills and cypress trees dotting the landscape, this would be my regular "hangout" as far as an Italian bistro goes.  Whether you're looking for breakfast, lunch or dinner, Un Caffe fits the bill!  Check out my Reno/Tahoe Reviews page (click above) to find out why.  Mangia...