Easy-Being-Green Lasagne

Green Lasagne

(Simplified and veggie-fied, this noodle stack succeeds at "water management."  Requires side of garlic bread.)

24 oz shredded italian cheese blend

20 oz. garlic alfredo sauce

24 oz ricotta cheese

2 eggs

1 box frozen broccoli florets, thaw and squeeze dry

1 box frozen chopped spinach, thaw and squeeze dry

1 medium zucchini, sliced 1/4 in, salted, towel-dried

Salt + pepper, dash of nutmeg

3+ cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 pkg oven-cook Lasagne noodles

Turn oven on to 375. Oil lasagne pan.

Divide ricotta in half, adding an egg to each half, and seasoning both with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, Add broccoli florets to one half, and chopped spinach to the other.

Mise en place are:

garlic oil

alfredo sauce

oven-ready noodles

sliced+salted zucchini

broccoli+ricotta

spinach+ricotta

shredded cheese

After layering, bake 45 minutes, then let rest for 10 min. before cutting.

First layer: Lay out zucchini circles in a flat layer, brush with minced garlic + olive oil.

Second layer: Oven-ready noodles, can break to fit

Third layer: Spinach-ricotta mixture

Fourth layer: 6 oz. shredded italian cheese blend

Fifth layer: Oven-ready noodles

Sixth layer: Broccoli-ricotta mixture

Seventh layer: 6 oz. shredded italian cheese blend

Eighth layer: Oven-ready noodles

Ninth layer: Garlic alfredo sauce, poured evenly (thin with dairy if it won't pour)

Tenth layer: 6 oz. shredded italian cheese blend

Classic Lasagne

Classic Lasagne

(This is your mother's lasagna.)

4 pkg (32 oz) shredded italian cheese

2 jars, or 4 c homemade, marinara sauce

1/2 lb ground beef

1 pkg Lasagne noodles (20 noodles, or get another brand) 

24 oz ricotta cheese

1 egg

Salt + pepper

3+ cloves of garlic, minced

dried or fresh italian herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary)

Preheat oven to 375f. Boil water for noodles. Brown ground beef, seasoning with salt+pepper, minced garlic, and herbs at the end. Add one jar of marinara to browned beef. Boil noodles until flexible but not yet al dente, drain; keep from sticking. Meanwhile, stir egg into ricotta cheese and season. Grease 4" deep half-pan, or deep dish 9x13 pan.

Mise en place are:

meat sauce

plain sauce

half-cooked noodles

ricotta mix

shredded cheese

After layering, bake 60 min. Out of oven, let rest 10 more minutes before cutting.

First layer: 1/2 cup plain sauce

Second layer: 4 noodles

Third layer: 1/2 of ricotta mixture

Fourth layer: 3/4 cup shredded cheese

Fifth layer: 4 noodles

Sixth layer: 1/2 of meat sauce

Seventh layer: 3/4 cup shredded cheese

Eighth layer: 4 noodles

Ninth layer: remaining ricotta mix

Tenth layer: 3/4 cup shredded cheese

Eleventh layer: 4 noodles

Twelfth layer: remaining meat sauce

Thirteenth layer: 3/4 cup shredded cheese

Fourteenth layer: last 4 noodles

Fifteenth layer: 1 1/2 cup plain sauce

Sixteenth layer: 1 cup shredded cheese

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake

(A 'shortcake' is not a short cake- it is a shortbread made sweet. "Short" refers to shortening, an ingredient sponge cakes shouldn't have. Strawberries on sponge or pound cake is a different dessert, which you are welcome to, but here's how to make the real thing)

Slice up:

2 quarts of strawberries

Stir to cover with:

1 c sugar

Let this sauce sit in the fridge

Preheat oven to 425f.

In the cuisinart, spin:

1 1/2 c. soft wheat flour1/3 c sugar2 1/2 tsp baking powder1/4 tsp salt

Cube into flour mixture quickly to keep cold, then process to a sandy texture with butter lumps no bigger than rice grains:

6 Tbsp butter

Pulse just 1-3 times after adding:

1/2 cup buttermilk

Dump wet+sandy mixture out on generously floured board, and bring together while kneading to a very soft dough, only 5-6 gentle turns after dough has come together. Shape dough as desired, using a light hand. Square and slice into squares or triangles, or cut rounds out with biscuit cutter, dipping in flour between. Place finished shortcakes on slightly greased pan 2 inches apart, and bake for 13-15 minutes until golden on top. Cool or don't. Once you plate the shortcake and drizzle with 1/4 c strawberries-and-juice sauce, and top with (I won't look how much):

Whipped cream

And eat it right away! Like snow in spring, this ephemeral dessert melts quickly.

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

(from scratch, but it's pretty easy)

Pie Crust, pressed into 4 little pie plates, and circles cut out for the tops.

Thaw in water and then drain:

1 c frozen peas

Slice:

2 stalks of celery - 2/3 c

Dice:

3 medium potatoes - 2 c potatoes 

1/2 c matchstick carrots (cook reg. carrots with potatoes) 

1/2 onion - 3/4 c onion 

2 chicken breasts

In 4-qt saucepot, combine:

2 c water 

2 tsp chicken better than bullion

Throw in the chicken and potatoes, boil on medium while making gravy

In large skillet, make white roux with:

2 Tbsp butter, melted 

2 1/2 Tbsp flour

When flour is cooked, thin cream sauce gradually with

2 c milk

And season while thickening with:

1 tsp salt 

3/4 tsp black pepper 

1 Tbsp golden sherry 

Fresh herbs at the end 

Or 1/2 tsp each thyme, sage, rosemary

When sauce is *quite* thick almost paste, pour into cooked chicken/potato pot, add celery, carrots, onion, and peas. Pour gravy in pie shells carefully not overfilling. Crimp top pastry circles to bottom with fork or fluting.  Bake at 350 for 50 min. and cool for 10 before serving.