Mama Pia Picks Lasagna~

Megan thought it would be nice if Mama could choose the recipe this time...and after Ratatouille, I took her up on her offer!

I have hours my favorite cooking shows recorded weekly so that I can find new ideas & tips to feed the family during the week. Martha Stewarts Everyday Food show (public television of course! hands down the BEST cooking shows are on KQED) taught a quick & yummy Tomato Sausage Lasagna that I wanted to give a try. Being that lasagna is one of Jim's favorites...I knew he would be more than pleased with our choice for this class!

We attempted the recipe on one of our busy weeknights & it worked perfectly. Megan was able to assemble the lasagna before she headed off to basketball practice, it baked while she was gone and when we got home...voila'...yummy lasagna from the oven!

The recipe and instructions from Martha's guru's at Everyday Food:
http://www.pbs.org/everydayfood/recipes/tomato_sausage_lasagna.html

Here's how it went down in the kitchen that night:

Our Ingredient List 2 cents & Changes:
• 12 dried lasagna noodles, (about 10 ounces), uncooked – I used the whole box 12 oz. and glad I did. 10 oz was not enough for my pan!
• 2 teaspoons olive oil – …we never measure ;-)
• 1 large onion, chopped – I would use half that next time – seemed to be a lot of onion for us
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning – I definitely used a LOT more – more like 1.5 tablespoons!
• 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes – we skipped it
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed – we bought the sausage not in the casings & it seemed easier than removing all the sausage from casing. Sage has mild Italian Sausage in a 1 lb. pack.
• 2 cans (28 ounces each) whole peeled tomatoes in puree – SMART to cut in the can with kitchen shears like the recipe suggests!!
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 6 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, (about 3 ounces)
The ONLY ingredient we decided after that we would ADD next time is fresh spinach! We all love spinach!! Yes, Megan REALLY does love spinach!

I LOVE the idea this recipe shares with soaking the lasagna noodles in hot tap water for about 20 minutes (the time it takes to make the sauce) so you don’t have to pre-boil them - it saved a lot of time. I know there are no-boil noodles, but I agree with the shows opinion, they are not the same texture and thickness as regular 'old school' lasagna noodles. It sure made it easy for Meg to do this recipe on her own!

After Megan’s last bout with chopping onions for Ratatouille, I thought I’d teach her a little secret :) …chopping onions with a food chopper!! She was SO excited that it didn’t burn her eyes this time and swears she will never do it any other way.


One challenge Meg had this time was with the cheese! We used fresh mozzarella and since we needed so much of it shredded, I taught her how to use the Cuisinart to speed things along (remember we had basketball practice in about 30 minutes!). The soft cheeses do NOT shred so well on the grater blade. The machine gives a little “jump” when it gets to the end of each cheese block. Megan did not like this part at all! But…for sake of smoothness and taste – I will take a lil’ Cruisinart jumping over pre-shredded (BLECK!) or semi-hard mozzarella cheese any day! We will have to revisit this machine with a recipe that will teach her the benefit of using it…because as of now, she ain’t buying it!

The rest of the recipe is pretty straight forward and simple - Meg sautéed the onions, tomatoes and sausage. Once cooked, she went & changed her clothes for basketball & then came back to assemble the lasagna.

We covered & tossed into the oven as directed. We think next time we will spray the foil with a little Pam non-stick cooking spray so all of the cheese is not stuck to the foil when we peel it away! We also cooked it about 45 minutes uncovered instead of 30. We like crusty crunchy lasagna edges!!

…wait Mama, I do not like it crusty and crunchy edged? That’s what you and Jim like?
Busted :-0

Let's Eat Ratatouille!

For Meg's first cooking class....she wants to learn how to make Ratatouille!

Really Megan? I tried all the "mommy coaching" I could to encourage her to pick something we would actually WANT to eat for dinner, but that child had her mind SET on Ratatouille (sheesshhhh, we need to pick recipes I can spell more easily next time!)

I think Megan has such a heart for this recipe because we had made it together when she was in kindergarten. Each student was asked to bring in a recipe that represented their nationality, and so for us being French, AND the new movie coming out - Megan wanted to make Ratatouille. The experience was so fun and she loved the dish so much that I think she logged that recipe in her little food brain as a keeper of fond memories with mom...or at least that's how I am choosing to see it! :)

So...this is the recipe we used as our foundation - it is from Julia Child's cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" ...but we made some modifications based on our tastes & cooking methods.

• 1/2 lb. eggplant (not the best time of year to buy eggplant & I tried to use that as an out with Megan...she wasn't buying it!!)



• 1/2 lb. zucchini



• 4 tb. olive oil or more if needed - we didn't measure!



• 1/2 lb sliced yellow onions



• 2 green bell peppers seeded & sliced - we used 1 ...it seemed to be enough



• 2 cloves of garlic mashed - we used our garlic press



• 1 lb of firm but ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded & juiced to make 1 1/2 cups of tomato pulp (again, not the best time of year to buy tomatoes, but as we shopped, we found yummy organic expensive ripe tomatoes! nothing like the juicy, delicious, mouth-watering tomatoes you can get at Smith's Farm in the summer!!)



• 3 tb. fresh parsley - and we added 1 tb of fresh thyme to the eggplant because they go so well together!
  
  
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Peel the eggplant & slice into about 3 inch strips. Slice the zucchini the same way. We tossed them both with a little salt & let sit for about 20 minutes to draw all of the water out of the eggplant & zucchini so they would roast up easier.

In the meantime, we sliced up the onions, bell peppers & tomatoes. Watch Meg's video on how she peeled, sliced & juiced the tomatoes :) we ended up with HALF of what we needed because she kept eating them as she sliced them up!

The recipe then says to sautee each vegetable, one at a time in a skillet using the olive oil. We decided it would be easier to to roast the eggplant & zucchini in the oven, so we tossed them with olive oil, threw them on a baking sheet & roasted in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes until golden brown. While those were in the oven, we sauteed the onions and green peppers over medium heat until softened. Then we added the garlic and cooked for about another 3 minutes.

We pulled the veggies out of the oven & we were ready to assemble! In a covered baking dish, Megan layered each vegetable - Onions and peppers mixture, then eggplant, then zucchini, then tomatoes, and a sprinkle of the parsley. Repeat layering until all of the veggies are gone - we ended up with 2 layers.

We topped with a sprinkling of olive oil and popped in a 350 degree oven for about 30-45 minutes!

While the Ratatouille is in the oven, Megan had the pleasure of cleaning up her mess! :) ...while Mama went & boiled up some pasta & bbq'd a few steaks to complete our dinner.

So after about 45 minutes in the oven, which seemed like a LIFE TIME to Megan...her masterpiece came out of the oven.

It was SOOOOOOO delicious! Megan had TWO huge servings & saved a bowl for after school today. The olive oil & juices from the veggies made a great topping for the pasta.

So until next time.....

BON APPETIT!

Mama & Megan