Vegetarian Lasagna with Summer Squash

Last week was my boyfriend's birthday and I really wanted to do something special for him even though I can't afford to spend a lot. Since I love to cook, I decided to throw a surprise dinner party for him.

One thing I've been incorporating into my diet lately is summer squash. I kept seeing it at the grocery story and didn't know how it tasted. When cooked, its mellow flavors blend in perfectly with the rest of the ingredients while adding a hint of freshness. I like them even better than zucchini because of their ability to stay crunchy after cooking.

Since I had leftover summer squash and I wanted to make a vegetarian Lasagna, I decided to incorporate the squashes into the dish. To do so, I simply sauteed the diced squash with some onions and Italian seasons before layering the veggies over some spinach: very delicious dish that fed a lot of people. I added some Italian sausages and Polish sausages cooked in arrabbiata sauce on the side for the meat eaters.

Lasagna with Summer Squash

Ingredients:
1 box of lasagna noodles
1-2 jars of arrabbiata sauce
1 package of frozen spinach
2 summer squash, diced
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp Italian seasoning (use Oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, or even some rosemary if you like)
1 large tub of ricotta cheese
1 egg (to mix with the ricotta and make it spread more, advice per Sally the expert Italian cook)
1 cup of mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated

Parboil the lasagna noodles in hot water for about 1 minute. Remove from water when slightly soft (you'll cook it through when you bake it) and place onto tin foil sheets. Make sure they don't overlap or stack together! Otherwise you'll have a terrible time peeling them from each other...

Sautee diced squash and onions with oil and add some salt. Cook until slightly carmelized and fragrant. Open pack of frozen spinach and thaw by placing in a microwave safe bowl with a table spoon of water. Follow microwave instructions on thawing.

Mix half of the mozzarella cheese with all of the ricotta, Parmesan, and egg, and set aside.

In the bottom of a large pan (I used pyrex, but you can use metal too), spread some arrabbiata sauce. Cover it with a layer of noodles (I double layered because I like the feel of thicker layers). Then cover the noodles with a layer of spinach, then with a layer of the veggies. Then put dollops of the cheese mixture evenly on the veggies. Cover with more sauce. Then with noodles.

The layers go:
sauce

noodles
veggies
cheese
sauce

repeat with noodles

At the end, spread some more sauce on the top layer of noodles. then sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella cheese on top. Bake at 350F covered with foil for about 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake open for another 10 minutes. To serve, just let cook for about 10 minutes and let the sauces get a little absorbed by the noodles (I hate soupy lasagnas, so if you like it soupy, don't worry about waiting!).

Spicy Sausages on the Side

1 - 2 lbs of Italian or Polish style sausages
2/3 jar (remainder from Lasagna making) of arrabbiata sauce
1 cup diced onions
2 cups ripe tomatos, diced

Cut the sausages into 1 1/2 inch pieces and brown in a tbsp of oil. When the meat is browned and firm, add the onoins and cook until carmelized. Add the diced tomatos then the remainder of the sauce. If it doesn't cover the meat, just add a half cup of water. Cook on medium heat until sauce reduces by 1/3. Serve sausages with Lasagna and salad!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!! :)

Good Eats from November

Haven't been able to update for a while! Things were very hectic. Sampled a few restaurants this week (and now have to go on a strict diet for the next week) since my mom was in town from California.

The first place we went earlier this week was Tre Kronor restaurant, by Foster and Kedzie. Very delicious selection of Swedish favorites including picked herring with sour cream, which I enjoyed as an appetizer. The butternut squash soup was a bit under-seasoned but very hearty and fresh. The beets in the roasted beets salad were rather bland and lacked the crunch and sweetness I was looking for. However, the roasted pork loin with plums was superbly tender and deserves high praise. Very cute little restaurant that's supposedly packed on weekends with people waiting for their swedish pancakes and lingonberry jam. Will have to sample this myself next time.

I was still repenting for all the semi-healthy Swedish fare when my sister insisted that we go to Avec, a trendy and upscale comfort food restaurant in the Fulton Market district. Sounds kind of oxymoronic to have fancy comfort food, but there were definitely a lot of satisfying selections such as the braised pork shoulders with peanuts and mussels. My favorite was the chorizo stuffed dates smothered in spicy tomato sauce and then paired with the cheese filled foccacia bread. The housemade fennel and pork sausage was heavenly, however, the pan roasted mackeral with garbanzo beans lacked flavor and tasted dry.

On the 3rd day we went to Papa's Cache Sabroso in Humboldt Park for some delicious jibaritos, which are cuban sandwiches that use fried plaintains as bread. Add some steak, cheese, mayo and lettus in the center, and you get a damn good sandwich worth the drive. The roasted chickens weren't particularly flavorful, so I'd skip them and go for the sandwiches instead. Also, they have the best flan I've ever had: rich and creamy without being hard or lumpy like other flans I've had.

I will be dieting for the next few days and will post some healthy recipes as repentence...