I made (controversial?) Lasagna

Hi! I have not posted in a while! But I do have some catch up posts to share with everyone soon....

To start off, I thought I would just do a real quick post about something I made this past Sunday.

Lasagna is something that I am positive everyone on this blog has made a billion times, so maybe it is silly to even post a recipe? I am sure everyone has their own favorite recipes and techniques. BUT I added one possibly controversial ingredient to the mix. TOFU. Instead of Ricotta cheese. Lots of folks (vegans) have done this before, but if you read on you will see that my version is NOT vegan! (There is mozzarella cheese.) So don't panic.

My logic was simply:

I love lasagna, but I wanted to make something I could bring to work for lunch that wouldn't be too rich. The tofu makes the dish lighter, and the added protein ensures that I will not fall asleep at my desk after I eat it.

OK here is the recipe.

Veggie Lasagna with Tofu

What you need:

TOMATO SAUCE - Obv. I endorse the recipe Joey posted here. I made a shorthand sauce this time though, with the following:

1 can whole peeled tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste (add to your liking)
garlic, onion, basil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes (add to your liking)
Let that simmer as long as you can. (If you want to use pre-made sauce, totally do it. I am not hating on pre-made sauce, it is awesome.)

Lasagna noodles: Of course fresh pasta is the most delicious. I didn't go that route though, and I used the "De Boles" brand, which you boil first before using. I am not a fan of the 'no bake' noodles.

For the filling:
Fresh Mozzarella cheese
Basil
1 package firm tofu
Veggies - I used cremini mushrooms and spinach, two of my faves. Any type of vegetable you want to throw into the mix is fine....peppers, zucchini, carrots, kale.....??

WHAT TO DO:
Get the sauce going first, so it has time to simmer.

Then take your tofu out of the package, and put in on a large plate. Place a layer of plastic wrap on top, and then balance something heavy on top (a heavy book or large bag of flour, etc.) so that you can drain out all the moisture (a la this Tofu Scramble I made). Do this for a few minutes, draining the excess water from the plate periodically, until most of the water seems to be drained from the tofu.

Chop/saute all your veggies with salt+pepper (and more garlic/onion if you like) and set aside.

Crumble the tofu until it is in small "cheese-like" crumbles. In a large bowl, combine with the sauteed vegetables.

Chop up your mozzarella cheese in thin slices.

Then, in a casserole dish, layer some sauce, some noodles, some veggie/tofu mixture, some cheese + basil leaves, more sauce, more noodles, etc. Be liberal with the salt + paper in between layers too- tofu doesn't have salt like ricotta cheese does, so it needs a bit.

Bake, covered in foil, at 375 for about 30 minutes, and then another 10 minutes at 350 degrees, uncovered. (Or a bit more/less - depending on your oven!)


So...there you have it. I hope I have not offended any lasagna purists out there!

The next photo shows how Jed enjoyed a slice for an early dinner the next day:

I make pesto all the time and it is so easy and delicious!

I made pesto pasta last night and just had leftovers for lunch and it was SO delicious I feel like I should tell the world. EVERYBODY MAKE SOME PESTO! It is so easy and gratifying!!! You probably think that only your Italian friend's grandma can make perfect pesto, that it takes some secret magic touch. But it's not true! It's actually so simple and easy to make and pretty hard to screw up.

I am going to tell you my method. First let me tell something about me that you may already know from reading this blog:
I hate hate hate food processors. I don't know what is wrong with me, but I can never get them to work right, and it is so frustrating I can't take it. (Alena, I could really relate to your feeling of wanting to cry when your Cuisinart wouldn't work at first. In fact, I almost cried reading that post, I empathized so much.) BUT I LOVE my trusty hand blender, and have yet to find something you are supposed to make with a food processor that you can't make with a hand blender.

SO. Here's how I do it:

Put the following ingredients in a big sturdy bowl:
2-3 bunches fresh basil leaves. (Last night I also threw in a handful of arugula, which added some nice bitterness to the flavor. Sometime I would like to try making pesto with just arugula.)
About 1/2 cup pine nuts
4 garlic cloves, smashed (Feel free to increase or decrease depending on how much you like garlic. Although I think 4 cloves is on the garlicky-er end of the spectrum, so maybe you shouldn't put in too much more than that.)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (I am not sure if this is exactly how much I put in. You want to put enough in to get everything wet enough so it will blend, but you don't want it too liquidy.)
about 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
The juice of one lemon (Not everybody does this, but I think it is essential to the flavor--adds a little sweetness to counter all the saltiness.)
Salt/Pepper to taste

Stick that hand blender in and blend away. Hand blenders are also called "immersion" blenders for a reason--you really have to bury it in your ingredients--if you hold it at the surface it will make a mess and not blend as well. You may have to stop a couple of times and scoop the stuff off the blades with your hands to make it blend better.

I like a thicker pesto. Some people like it to be really smooth and thin. Up to you.

Now look. You are done, and you only got one bowl dirty. And you can clean your hand blender by just taking the detachment off.

What are you gonna use your pesto for? Well, you could put in a pizza. You could make some pesto lasagna. You even put in on a sandwich. Make that sandwich a PANINI!!!

Or, you could just make the traditional pasta.

I like thin spaghetti with pesto. Here's something easy you can add to it that will make it EVEN MORE DELICIOUS:

Roasted grape tomatoes.

Here's how you do it:

Preheat the oven to about 425. Put a whole bunch of grape tomatoes on a baking sheet. Toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Pop those babies in and let them roast for about 15 minutes. They will burst and get wrinkled and slightly browned. Don't let them get too burnt--you want them to still be soft and juicy and tomato-y. (tomatoey?)

Throw them into the pasta.

Put tons of red pepper and more cheese on top.

This is a good summer dish because it has a lot of fresh ingredients and doesn't require much cooking. It's also just as good cold.

DO IT!

We made Lemon-Basil Gimlets!

Hi.  This is Hillary's brother, and I have a recipe for you.  Normally, I wouldn't describe making a cocktail as cooking, but this actually involved applying heat to ingredients, so I think we'll count it.  Besides, they were delicious.

First you have to make the Lemon-Basil simple syrup.  Here's the recipe:

• 4 cups packed fresh basil sprigs
• 4 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 9 (4 by 1 inch) strips of lemon zest (I ended up with lots of smaller strips, but it served the same purpose... these are really tasty after they come out of the syrup, by the way)

Bring all the ingredients to a boil in a saucepan, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.  Then let stand at room temperature, covered, 1 hour.  Then transfer to air tight container and chill until cold, about 1 hour. Strain into a bowl, then squeeze solids to get out extra liquids.  Syrup will keep in fridge up to 5 days.

Cocktail:

• 1 cup Lemon Basil syrup
• 3/4 cup vodka (we put a little extra splash of vodka into the glasses... they're a little sweet as is)
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• Ice cubes
• Basil sprigs for garnish

Stir together all ingredients in a pitcher until cold, then strain into 8 to 10 ounce glasses half-filled with ice.

Bad camera phone pictures of mason jars filled with the syrup: