Deconstructed Greek Lasagna-- September/October 2010

So. It is well established that I am very lazy. (See the fact that I'm posting my OCTOBER entry in the first week of November. Ahem.) When presented with the challenge of making lasagna, a notorious time-suck of a dish, I heaved an internal sigh. All that LAYERING. All the dirty pots. Yuck. And then, factor in the baking time. I half-heartedly searched lasagna recipes on the trusty ol' internet, looking for something to strike me, when I came across this on the Good Housekeeping website. I believe I actually shouted, "AHA!" THIS is lasagna for the lazy at heart. No layering! No baking! They called it Greek lasagna toss, but I tweaked the spices, so I have reserved to right to re-name it. It's now Deconstructed Greek Lasagna. VICTORY IS MINE! Check it out...


You will need the following:
Lasagna noodles
2T olive oil
One onion, diced
Two cloves of garlic, diced
1 24oz can of plum tomatoes
Fresh oregano and rosemary-- a few stems of each
1T crushed red pepper
Salt to taste
2lb shrimp-- tails off
1/2 C feta cheese, with more for sprinkling
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish


Start a pot of water boiling for your lasagna noodles, and in a separate large skillet, heat the olive oil and add chopped onion.



Allow the onions and the chopped garlic to cook 'til opaque, then add plum tomatoes, and break them up with the back of a spoon. (Or the weird wooden paddle-y thing I prefer to use these days.)



Mmmm. Things are starting to smell good. Around this time, the water you started for the lasagna noodles should be boiling, so go ahead and put the noodles in the water. Add the chopped fresh herbs and the crushed red pepper to the tomato mixture, and let it simmer for a few minutes.



See the steamy goodness? It's about to get better. It's time to introduce the shrimp. I had frozen shrimp, so I defrosted it under some warm running water for a few minutes, and let it defrost the rest of the way in the sauce itself. Then, I tossed in the feta cheese.



I stirred it allll up, and about this time the lasagna noodles were done. I drained them, and then added the tomato shrimp goodness to the hot noodles, and tossed the parsley on top-- it was a thing of beauty.



Yummmmmm. A side note-- please, please, PLEASE-- if you decide to make this stuff-- make this bread to go with it.



Isn't it ADORABLE? It was absolutely delicious, and SUPER SIMPLE. Here's the link-- seriously, make this.

Anyway. Back to dinner. I KNEW the 4yo would immediately reject anything involving shrimp and/or feta cheese, so I just gave her leftovers. But, she loved the bread. (She said to Melissa, "You MUST try this bread! It's GOOOOD!") And she wanted me to take her picture. Here's your dose of cute.


She gives the leftovers a big thumbs up. Next, we had a special guest for dinner-- cousin Melissa! Wooooo! She, too, enjoyed her dinner:



Jay, too, found the meal to be delicious. He said it was "perfectly spiced". That's me, tooting my horn. Toot.



I was really happy with it, too. It took a whole 25 MINUTES to prepare, and it was delicious. I would serve it to anyone. If the queen were coming for dinner, and didn't have a shellfish allergy, she would eat this happily.

Mexican Lasagna

We always do Mexican food with margaritas every Friday night so when this challenge was posted I wanted to do Mexican lasagna - but I don't like the mushy tortillas that are usually used for this - so this is my vegetarian, fusion version using the noodles and a tofu ricotta and the rest mexican ingredients.

So you will need:



For the Mexican style fake tofu ricotta:

1 block extra firm tofu (first picture) drained and mashed
Juice of two limes (only one shown - oops!!)
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup tofu sour cream or regular sour cream
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

Place all the above ingredients in a food processor and whir up til it looks like this:



Next for the sauce you will need:

2 cups salsa
2 cups diced tomatoes with juice
1 onion minced
3-4 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste
drizzle of olive oil

Saute the onion and garlic in the oil til tender then add the remaining ingredients and simmer for about 5 minutes to blend flavors.



While the sauce simmers get the dear hubby busy making his famous pink lemonade margaritas.



1 can frozen pink lemonade
Juice of several limes
Dash of triple sec
3/4 can to full can tequila
lots of ice

Blend and YUMMMMMM!!!!!!



Okay - now for assembly of the lasagna
You will need in addition to the fake ricotta (really, this is very good and we like it better than real ricotta - maybe this is the solution to the ricotta vs. cottage cheese argument!!!)

1 can refried beans
1 can black beans - drained and rinsed
1 bunch cilantro chopped
1 bag veggie mozzarella cheese shreds or regular mozzarella
1 package oven ready lasagna noodles (you don't need to precook these!)

To assemble pour about 1/3 of the sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Add a layer of lasagna noodles, top with refried beans then the ricotta.



Next layer on the black beans, cilantro and cheese.



Repeat those layers one more time starting with the sauce. Then add a final layer of noodles and top with the remaining third of the sauce.



Cover tightly with foil and back in a 425 degree oven for one hour. Drink a couple of margaritas while you wait - dear hubby can always make another pitcher!!



After downing the margaritas for an hour remove the lasagna and take off foil. Top with more shredded cheese and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes, just enough time for yet another margarita.



Serve it up with salad bread and jalopeno peppers and of course, another margarita!!!!



And now for the verdict -


Thumbs up from the men of the family - both had seconds!!!



We even had Taz the dog interested in this one!!!



And the pickiest eater of the bunch chowed down (she just returned from a tea party and is all princess dressed up!!!

Now where did I put my margarita?????

Mexican Lasagna

We always do Mexican food with margaritas every Friday night so when this challenge was posted I wanted to do Mexican lasagna - but I don't like the mushy tortillas that are usually used for this - so this is my vegetarian, fusion version using the noodles and a tofu ricotta and the rest mexican ingredients.

So you will need:



For the Mexican style fake tofu ricotta:

1 block extra firm tofu (first picture) drained and mashed
Juice of two limes (only one shown - oops!!)
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup tofu sour cream or regular sour cream
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

Place all the above ingredients in a food processor and whir up til it looks like this:



Next for the sauce you will need:

2 cups salsa
2 cups diced tomatoes with juice
1 onion minced
3-4 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste
drizzle of olive oil

Saute the onion and garlic in the oil til tender then add the remaining ingredients and simmer for about 5 minutes to blend flavors.



While the sauce simmers get the dear hubby busy making his famous pink lemonade margaritas.



1 can frozen pink lemonade
Juice of several limes
Dash of triple sec
3/4 can to full can tequila
lots of ice

Blend and YUMMMMMM!!!!!!



Okay - now for assembly of the lasagna
You will need in addition to the fake ricotta (really, this is very good and we like it better than real ricotta - maybe this is the solution to the ricotta vs. cottage cheese argument!!!)

1 can refried beans
1 can black beans - drained and rinsed
1 bunch cilantro chopped
1 bag veggie mozzarella cheese shreds or regular mozzarella
1 package oven ready lasagna noodles (you don't need to precook these!)

To assemble pour about 1/3 of the sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Add a layer of lasagna noodles, top with refried beans then the ricotta.



Next layer on the black beans, cilantro and cheese.



Repeat those layers one more time starting with the sauce. Then add a final layer of noodles and top with the remaining third of the sauce.



Cover tightly with foil and back in a 425 degree oven for one hour. Drink a couple of margaritas while you wait - dear hubby can always make another pitcher!!



After downing the margaritas for an hour remove the lasagna and take off foil. Top with more shredded cheese and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes, just enough time for yet another margarita.



Serve it up with salad bread and jalopeno peppers and of course, another margarita!!!!



And now for the verdict -


Thumbs up from the men of the family - both had seconds!!!



We even had Taz the dog interested in this one!!!



And the pickiest eater of the bunch chowed down (she just returned from a tea party and is all princess dressed up!!!

Now where did I put my margarita?????

Vegetable Lasagna

This lasagna is pretty ordinary, but always good on a cool fall evening. I usually use zucchini however I couldn't find any in the store so I used eggplant instead.

Saute sliced mushrooms (1 container), sliced eggplant (1 medium), diced green pepper (1 medium), onion (1 small), garlic (2 cloves), and spices in olive oil. Add chopped swiss chard when all vegetables are almost done and saute for another couple of minutes.










Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine 2 C cottage cheese, 1 C shredded mozzarella, 1/4 C Parmesan cheese, 1 egg, fresh sliced basil, oregano, black pepper, garlic powder, and no-salt sun-dried tomato seasoning. I use cottage cheese probably because that is how my mom makes her lasagna and her's has never failed a taste test.Pour some pasta sauce in the bottom of 9x13 inch pan and top with one layer of no-boil lasagne noodles. Top layer with sauce then add another layer of noodles. Spoon half of cottage cheese mixture on noodles then layer with more noodles. Top this layer of noodles with the vegetable mixture then layer on more noodles. Spoon the remaining half of cottage cheese mixture on noodles. Put a final layer of noodles over the cottage cheese mixture. Generously pour pasta sauce over noodles. Add ~1/4 C of water to pasta jar, screw on lid and shake. Pour water-sauce slurry over noodles then sprinkle 1 C of mozzarella cheese over lasagna.

Bake in a pre-heated 350F oven for 30-40 minutes.

In my book, garlic bread and wine must accompany lasagna.
Happy fall to everyone!