Jans Summer Garden Lasagna Recipes

SUMMER LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
• In a skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef until evenly brown. Drain juices. Mix the onion, green bell pepper, carrots, garlic, and tomato sauce into the skillet. Season with oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
• In the bottom of the prepared baking dish, layer 1/2 the zucchini strips. In a bowl, beat together the cottage cheese and egg, and spread over the zucchini. Scoop 1/2 the beef mixture over the cottage cheese and egg mixture, and sprinkle with 1/2 the mozzarella cheese. Layer with remaining zucchini, beef mixture, and mozzarella. Top with Parmesan cheese.
• Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow to sit 10 minutes before slicing to serve.

CLASSIC LASAGNA

Steps:

• Make the sauce: Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add sausage, if using, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's starting to brown but not yet crisp, about 5 minutes.
• Add onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is totally softened and translucent (without letting it brown), 8 to 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and continue to cook, stirring until the tomato paste has turned a deeper brick red color, tinting the oil and onions a fiery orange color, about 2 minutes.
• Using your hands, crush the whole tomatoes into smaller, bite-size pieces and add them and the crushed tomatoes, stirring to scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pot. Fill one of the tomato cans halfway with water and add it to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomato sauce has thickened and flavors have come together, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Make the lasagna: Heat oven to 375 degrees and set a large pot of salted water to boil.
• Set aside 1 cup mozzarella. In a medium bowl, combine remaining mozzarella, ricotta, 1 cup Parmesan and cream; season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Cook lasagna noodles in the large pot of salted boiling water until just softened (before they are even aldente), about 4 minutes. Drain and separate any noodles that are trying to stick together, slicking them with a bit of olive oil to prevent them from sticking further.
• Spoon a bit of sauce on the bottom of a 3-quart baking dish and top with a layer of noodles, avoiding any heavy overlap.
• Top with about 1 ¼ cups of sauce, and dollop ¼ of the cheese mixture over. Top with another layer of noodles and repeat three more times, ending with the last of the noodles (depending on size of the noodle/shape of the baking dish, you may have a few extra noodles) and the last of the sauce. Top with reserved 1 cup mozzarella and more Parmesan, if you like.
• Cover loosely with aluminum foil and place baking dish on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet (to prevent any overflow from burning on the bottom of your oven).
• Bake until pasta is completely tender and cooked through and sauce is bubbling up around the edges, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove foil and increase temperature to 450 degrees. Continue to bake until lasagna is golden brown on top with frilly, crispy edges and corners, another 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating.

GARDEN VEGGIE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Place first nine ingredients in a large bowl; toss to coat. Arrange on two greased 15x10x1-in baking pans. Bake 10-15 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Reduce oven to 350°., Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, saute mushrooms, onion and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in remaining sauce ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally., In a large bowl, combine the filling ingredients. Spread 1 cup sauce into a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Layer a third of the noodles, a third of the ricotta cheese mixture, half of the vegetables, a third of the remaining sauce and a third of the cheese blend; repeat. Top with remaining noodles, ricotta mixture, sauce and cheese blend., Cover and bake 35-40 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.

THE BEST LASAGNA

Steps:

• Put pasta water on to boil Put a large pot of salted water (1 Tbsp salt for every 2 quarts of water) on the stovetop on high heat. It can take a while for a large pot of water to come to a boil (this will be your pasta water), so prepare the sauce in the next steps while the water is heating.
• Heat the oven to 375°F
• Bake Cover the lasagna pan with aluminum foil, tented slightly so it doesn't touch the noodles or sauce). Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes. Uncover in the last 10 minutes if you'd like more of a crusty top or edges.

JAN'S SUMMER GARDEN LASAGNA

Steps:

• Trim stem ends of eggplants. Peel. Cut vertically into quarters, then crosswise into ½" cubes. Toss eggplant pieces with plenty of salt. Let drain in colander for 30 minutes.
• While eggplant drains, peel, seed, and coarsely chop the tomatoes. Put in colander and let drain.
• Dice the onions and saute them in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan. When onion is translucent, add garlic, basil, oregano, sugar, pepper to taste, and tomatoes. Simmer until sauce is thick and very little free moisture remains in bottom of the pan, about 1 hour.
• While sauce simmers, pat eggplant pieces dry in a clean towel. Simmer in about 2 tablespoons olive oil in a frying pan until tender. Set cooked eggplant aside in a bowl.
• While eggplant is cooking, grate the zucchini. Salt it liberally and let it drain in a colander or on a cutting board for 30 minutes.
• Slice mushrooms. Saute them in 2 tbsp olive oil until wilted. Add Zinfandel and cook briskly until liquid has evaporated and pan is virtually dry. Put mushrooms in bowl with eggplant.
• Squeeze as much moisture as possible from the zucchini. Saute briefly in 1 tablespoons olive oil (or less) for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
• While zucchini cools, cook lasagna noodles in boiling water in stock pot for 10 minutes. Drain in colander and rinse to prevent sticking.
• While noodles boil, mix together cottage cheese, beaten egg, parmesan, and zucchini. Refrigerate until needed.
• Stir together tomato sauce, eggplant, and mushrooms. Spread half the mixture in 13x9" pan. Top with five lasagna noodles. Spread zucchini-cheese mixture on noodles. Top with five more lasagna noodles, then with the rest of the tomato-vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella.
• Cover dish with aluminum foil. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 45 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before cutting.
• July 27, 2008.

SUMMER EGGPLANT LASAGNA

Steps:

• Peel and slice the eggplant and salt it in a colander. Cover with paper towels and a tea kettle that is full and heavy. Let stand for about 1 hour until moisture is released. This first step is very important to remove any bitterness.
• Batter the eggplant by dipping first in beaten eggs, then in homemade bread crumbs seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano and parsley. (If you need to use store bought seasoned bread crumbs add salt and pepper.)
• In a deep sided fry pan heat the olive oil to 350 degrees F. Add a little butter (for flavor) and fry the eggplant in batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
• Make the vinaigrette of red wine vinegar, olive oil, chopped peppadews and a little sugar. Season with salt and pepper.
• Chop the basil, mint and Italian parsley.
• Boil the lasagna noodles with a little oil, so that they do not stick, and some salt, to impart some flavor.
• In a beautiful serving dish layer the noodles, then the eggplant then sprinkle with some fresh mozzarella, then the herbs and finally drizzle with the vinaigrette.
• Repeat until all the layers are formed, making sure that the noodle is not the last layer.
• Serve at room temperature for the best summer lasagna. Manga!