buongiorno amici
As usual, I did some cooking this weekend. First of all I decided to enjoy some tomatoes while they’re still at their peak, and made a classic insalate caprese.
Using a variety of heirloom cherry tomatoes might not be completely authentic, but it was delicious.
Then I continued my Italian theme with an even more inauthentic lasagna. Following Melissa’s suggestion in a comment on my post about freezer meals, I decided to make a couple small pans for the freezer, as well as the one I baked last night. The ingredients were a little trailer park-ish (I went to Fresh & Easy for the cheese, and they were all out of ricotta, so I used cottage cheese, and the sauce was from a can), but I have to say, and Mr. HeyLucy can confirm, that it was one delicious pan of lasagna.
Look at that drippy, yummy mess! There are three layers, each with a layer of noodles in between. I started by smearing a little marinara sauce in the bottom of the dish and topping it with noodles. The bottom is Italian sausage and extra lean ground beef, cooked with some chopped onion and a small can of tomato sauce, topped with a light layer of mozzarella. The middle layer is low-fat cottage cheese mixed with lots of fresh chopped basil and a tablespoon or so of dried oregano and topped with marinara sauce. The top layer is thinly sliced zucchini and spinach, topped with a thin layer of alfredo sauce. Add another sheet of noodles, top with marinara sauce and a sprinking of mozzarella, and bake until bubble-y and golden, and don’t worry about cleaning the oven until tomorrow if you want to be just like me. I left the zucchini out of the frozen pans, because I wasn’t sure how it would freeze. Have you ever seen frozen zucchini? I don’t think I have. There must be a reason for that.
OOh- that looks really good. I boil chicken for mine and shred it with forks. Cottage cheese works just as well and I am sure it tasted great.I just use canned tomatoes (whole or diced),tomato sauce and add it in after the onions cook up. Hey, that’s another thing- you can cook up and freeze your tomato sauce too. I want to try canning, but this year I didn’t grow any tomatoes. I haven’t frozen zucchini either, but the carrots and peppers do fine. I am going to add zucchini next time I make mine.
People shred zucchini and freeze it all the time and pull it out for breads and cookies and stuff,so maybe it would work if you are freezing slices of it.
That looks so yummy! I love Fresh & Easy.
Wow. All of that food looks amazing. I love the pan containing the lasagne — it looks like one my mom has and it’s such a childhood nostalgia thing, that pan. Love it!
I got the package from you yesterday — thank you so much! I’m halfway through the book and am really enjoying it. I love the extras, too. Thanks again!
Back to that zucchini…As SjBrich mentioned, you can grate zucchini and it freezes well. I read on farmgirlfare’s site (have to give her credit): cut 1/2″ slices, blanch the zucchini in boiling water for 3 minutes, transfer to a bowl of ice water to cool, drain and bag to freeze. So, I was thinking about the lasagna- it would be ok to probably throw the zucchini in for the last 3 minutes with the sauce before you take it off to cool for assembly? I’ll give it a go. After all this talk about another depression, I am thinking I better relearn how to can! I am still wondering why in Atlanta and Alpharetta, GA we have gas stations running out of gas everyday? I passed 7 gas stations today that were out of gas and this evening there were 2 stations with gas- one had 2 pumps open and they both had lines of about 50-60 cars! What’s up? Anybody else experiencing this?