Like most guys, I don’t care much for Valentine’s Day. Hallmark makes their post Christmas pre-Easter seasons lull by squeezing this card and chocolate extravaganza into our busy lives. Luckily I was smart enough as a cunning fifteen year old to start a relationship a few days after Valentine’s day. Flash forward eight years and now with the same lady the holiday is brushed off in anticipation for our anniversary on the 20th. Now I like making something special for my special someone, so tonight was Caite’s choice. She said shes had a hankering for lasagna and I love me some Italian cooking (I love garlic) so Lasagna it is. I usually go pretty basic with lasagna, just following the directions on the back of the no-boil noodles box. But now that I’ve taken this role, I felt like I should step up my game and get a little creative. I also had to be as Weight Watcher friendly as possible so I don’t have to make ma sit in exile eating egg whites while the rest of us stuff our faces like the glutinous Americans we are.
To make the meal more caloric friendly I substituted skim Ricotta for whole, and part-skim mozzarella rather than whole. Adding some veggies like fresh button shrooms and chopped spinach really gave this dish some distinction. I went all out and even made a scratch sauce. Lasagna is a simple diner that takes some time to put together but is one of the best dishes to make ahead of time, allowing you to make it as early as the night before, stick it in the fridge and pop it in the oven about an hour and a half before your ready to eat. Accompany it with a salad and some fresh bread (if you don’t have dieters in your house) and you’ve got an awesome Italian dinna.
While shopping today I broke the cardinal sin in grocery shopping; don’t shop on an empty stomach. Not that I picked out a poor diner menu or anything, it was my lunch selection. Browsing the frozen food section I decided to grab a pack of Banquet chicken fingers rather than my usually combination pizza rolls fix. I should know better that all frozen chicken stuff sucks, and these things were no exception. I thought I’d ball out by deep-frying these boys and dressin them up with some BBQ sauce… I didn’t work. I fried them in the suggested 350-degree oil for three and a half minutes just like the bag said and they turned into terd rods. I even went to pet value to buy the mutt some classy, yuppie wet dog food because A. some women freaked me out about his diet at a pet show, and B. Because I was hungry and thinking about feeding everyone, myself and the dog included, so that set me back $10 for a few fancy holistic cans of dog food.
Tomato Sauce:
1 TBS olive oil
1 onion, minced
Salt
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28 OZ) can whole tomatoes (San Marino) crushed by hand (No juices)
1 (28 OZ) can diced tomatoes (Drained of juices)
¼ TSP dried oregano
1/8 TSP red pepper flakes
Pepper
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until almost smoking. Add onion and one tsp of salt and cook until softened, about five minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Simmer until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste
Shrooms and Spinach:
1 LB of white button shrooms
10 OZ frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained and squeezed of water
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBS EVOO
Salt
Pepper
Heat the EVOO in a large skillet over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add the shrooms and cook until browned, about ten minutes. Stir in minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Off the heat, stir in the spinach, season with salt and pepper.
Meat:
8 OZ ground beef (85%)
8 OZ ground pork
4-6 OZ ground veal
1 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBS EVOO
Heat the oil over medium heat. Once hot add the onions, then the meat. Cook about ten minutes or until there is no longer any pink visible.
Cheese Mixture:
15 OZ Ricotta Cheese, part skim
1 ¼ C Parmesan Cheese, grated
½ fresh basil, minced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
5 C tomato sauce
1 pack no-boil lasagna noodles
1 LB Mozzarella, shredded, part-skim
Mix Ricotta, 1 C Parmesan, basil, egg salt and pepper until well combined
The Assembly:
1. Preheat oven 375. Add the cooked meat into the pasta sauce. Spread a small layer of meat sauce on the bottom of your 9X13 deep baking dish so the noodles don’t touch bottom.
2. Spoon enough ricotta (about a TBS or two) and spread on pasta noodles. Do this step two more times so you have three noodles laying side by side, add some of the shroom and spinach mixture on top, followed by a layer of meat sauce, then top with a handful or two of mozzarella.
3. Continue this process until you have run out of cheese and meat sauce mixture. I don’t use measuring devices on most occasions and I definitely don’t when cooking Italian. Just make sure you portion enough so you have enough for all your layers, a good rule of thumb is just add enough to cover the previous layer. Top with some parmesan cheese and some salt and pepper
4. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Add to the middle of the preheated oven. Bake 65 minutes covered. Remove cover and bake another ten minutes. Once the cheese is melted and a good lookin browned take it out and let cool for about ten minutes before cutting up and serving.
Everyone loved the new take on lasagna. I didn’t taste or really notice much difference between the part skim ingredients versus the whole counterparts. This jazzed up version is def going to be the new stand-by when it comes to lasagna night. I haven’t made this dish that much lately because I was so board with not only the flavor but was also tired of making it. This adds a ton of flavor and even more texture with the shrooms and spinach as well as making the scratch tomato sauce. Although I thought it looked a little oily or runny when I took it out of the oven, it turned out perfect when I let it cool for ten minutes. I used the new Shun to cut the pieces put and had no resistance or pull from the cheese on top. Nothing is better than that knife. Ma was whining about never having a good knife, in thirty years of marriage, never had a good knife. Well, she can use mine while I’m still around, after that, she can get her own.
Todays best surprise came when ma came home from work. I asked when Chris was coming home from his weekend visit to Becca (his main squeeze) at Penn State. I forgot that before he left we requested some Penn State dinner grilled stickies and some Penn State Creamery Ice cream. I am one to get excited over dessert, Its some of my favorite things to make and I always make dessert first because I cant stand the anticipation (and its better to let your desserts cool). When ma told me that Becca was sending a Valentine’s day care package back home full of two packs of stickies and two tubs of ice cream, I suddenly had a rush of pure bliss knowing that tonight I was going to be fulfilling my sweet tooth with this awesome dessert. Throw them in the pan with some butter and oil, fry up to a golden brown (only on the one side) and serve them up with some vanilla creamery blend and you have in my opinion, one of the best package desserts you can buy. This stuff is slamin, if you know anyone in Happy Valley hit them up and have them bring you some home (they’ll even set you up with an insulated bag and some dry ice to make sure you ice cream makes it home safe, of course).
The happiest person award on Valentine’s day goes to Haboo. Not only was he allowed to bring in his nasty bone into the house today (it was a marrow bone that is not all clean on the inside and out thanks to his hard work) but he also got a Valentine cookie from Grandma Lewis. He was so over joyed that when we gave him his treat he went to give a high five, and in his bliss he went back and sat on his ass, his two front arms in the air, looking like a cartoon dog begging. Pops, Caite and I had a good laugh and he devoured half his treat in seconds.
Wednesday and Thursday will be off days; ma’s out to dinner on Wednesday, and pop has a CAN both days. Maybe something light on Thursday, or something that pops cant stand, which in the past is the fattiest crap or a recipe/ingredient I want to screw around with. I cant think of anything right now for tomorrow nights suppa so it looks like its going to be a sleepless night ahead of me unless I get some kind of idea in my head, whish me luck. Smell ya later and happy bull-shit day to all!
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