Summer Garden Lasagna Recipes

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan, and 2 teaspoons oil; season with salt and pepper. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles according to package instructions; drain.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high. Add garlic and tomatoes; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until slightly broken down, about 3 minutes. Transfer tomatoes to a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon oil and zucchini to skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until zucchini are tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer to another bowl and stir in basil.
• Place some tomatoes on four plates; top with a noodle and small spoonfuls ricotta, zucchini, and more tomatoes. Repeat layering twice, then top with remaining noodles and tomatoes. Garnish with basil.

Steps:

• Combine the cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup olive oil, garlic, basil leaves, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, and the pepper in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature for about 4 hours.
• Just before you're ready to serve, bring a large pot of water with a splash of olive oil and 2 tablespoons salt to a boil and add the pasta. Cook al dente according to the directions on the package (be careful - it only takes 2 to 3 minutes!). Drain the pasta well and add to the bowl with the cherry tomatoes. Add the cheese and some extra fresh basil leaves and toss well. Serve in big bowls with extra cheese on each serving.

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.

Steps:

• To make the lasagna pasta. In a large bowl, mix the flour with the egg, 3 tablespoons olive oil and 2 pinches of salt. Mix until dough is firm and shiny, then wrap it in plastic wrap. Let rest in the refrigerator for as long as 6 hours.
• Brush and peel the truffle, and cut into 6 very fine slices and put aside for lasagna. Cut what's left in very small cubes. In a small saucepan, heat the butter on low heat, add the cubed truffles and sweat. Add the port and reduce slightly. Then add the cream, season with salt and pepper, and let it reduce to half. Set aside.
• In a medium pot of boiling salted water, cook the peas for 2 to 4 minutes, drain, and blend in food processor. Cook the extra peas and hold aside for garnish. Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with 5 tablespoons of olive oil. Keep warm and set aside.
• To lasagna noodles. Divide the dough in 3 pieces, work with 1 piece, keep the remaining covered with a dish towel. Using a rolling pin or pasta machine, work 1 part of the dough as thin as possible, then cut a rectangular piece of about 12 by 5-inch. On one long side half of this rectangular piece, lay the 6 slices of truffles evenly then fold the other half over it and roll it again until almost transparent. Then cut in 6 rectangular sheets 2 by 2 1/2-inch, making sure the truffles sit roughly in the middle. Repeat this operation twice with the 2 other pieces of dough, without the truffles.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add a little olive oil. Cook 1 piece of noodle to test the time which should be about 3 to 4 minutes. Cook the remaining lasagna. Drain and put aside in a bowl and coat with some olive oil.
• To serve, place 1 sheet of plain lasagna on each plate, then spoon on the warm pea puree. Repeat this with 2 more sheets of lasagna, ending with the truffle sheet on top. Spoon some of the truffle cream on top. Garnish with a few peas and summer truffle shavings. Drizzle any left over cream around the lasagna. Serve immediately.

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.

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch (30 cm) cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute, until the garlic starts to soften but not brown. Add the oregano and parsley and cook for about 30 seconds more, until fragrant. Add the Swiss chard and salt and cook until the chard wilts, 2-3 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside. Wipe out the pan.
• Make the béchamel: Melt the butter in the same skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic to the pan and cook until softened and fragrant, but not browned, about 1 minute. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, for about 2 minutes, until the mixture bubbles but has not yet started to brown.
• Slowly stream in the warm milk, starting with just a few splashes, whisking constantly. The mixture will be very clumpy at first, but will eventually come together as a thin sauce. Cook until the mixture begins to simmer, and then reduce the heat to low and cook, still stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, cayenne, and nutmeg and whisk to incorporate. Pour the béchamel into a liquid measuring cup, but do not scrape out the pan. You want a thin coating of sauce left in the bottom of the skillet.
• Assemble the lasagna: Add the olive oil to the pan and whisk into the béchamel.
• Pour warm water into a glass baking dish. Dip each lasagna noodle in the warm water for a few seconds, then lay in the skillet, breaking as needed to fit. Once you have a single layer at the bottom of the pan, top with ⅓ of the béchamel, ⅓ of the frozen peas, ⅓ of the sautéed Swiss chard, ⅓ of the mozzarella, and ⅓ of the Parmesan. Repeat to make 2 more layers with the remaining ingredients.
• Cover the skillet with 2-3 layers of foil and seal tightly to ensure no steam escapes.
• Cook the lasagna over medium-low heat for 30-45 minutes, until a toothpick slides easily through the noodles.
• Uncover the lasagna and top with the basil. Serve immediately.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease an 8x6-inch baking dish with 1 teaspoon olive oil.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain.
• Bring another large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook corn in the boiling water until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Cut kernels from the cobs and discard cobs.
• Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute zucchini ribbons with a pinch of salt and black pepper in hot oil until golden and cooked through, about 5 minutes.
• Heat remaining extra virgin olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir onion in hot oil until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour 1/3 of the marinara sauce into the onion mixture; bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, stir in cream, and cook until sauce is slightly reduced, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Pour 1/3 of the marinara sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Place a layer of lasagna noodles over the marinara sauce, trimming noodles as necessary to fit the baking dish. Spread zucchini ribbons over the noodle layer and top with another layer of lasagna noodles.
• Spread ricotta cheese over the lasagna noodles and place another layer of noodles atop the cheese. Pour marinara-cream mixture over the noodles and top with corn kernels.
• Place a layer of lasagna noodles over the corn kernels and top noodles with spinach. Add a final layer of noodles and top noodles with remaining marinara sauce. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese over the top. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and continue baking lasagna until cheese is browned and beginning to bubble, about 15 minutes more.

Steps:

• Lay out enough dry lasagna strips in a 9 x 13-inch pan to ensure you have enough to make 3 full layers, with very little overlap on each layer. Remove the dry strips and cook according to package instructions until barely "al dente" and drain.
• ALFREDO SAUCE: Heat water to a boil in the bottom of a double boiler. Add butter, cream and pepper to the top pot and heat until butter is completely melted, then stir in Parmesan until melted and blended. Remove top pot and set aside to cool.
• RICOTTA CHEESE MIX: Combine all ingredients in a bowl and blend thoroughly with a rubber spatula. Set aside at room temperature.
• VEGETABLES: Combine all veggies and mix well.
• ASSEMBLY: Coat the bottom and sides of a 9x13 baking dish with vegetable spray. Lay out cooked lasagna strips (about 4) to cover entire bottom. Spread 1 1/4 cup of the Ricotta mix evenly over the strips. Top with 8 cups of vegetable mix and spread out evenly. Lay out 9 of the mozzarella slices to cover the veggie layer. Repeat this layering. Top the second layer of mozzarella slices with lasagna strips and spread them evenly with 1-1/4 cup ricotta cheese mix to finish.
• COOKING: Spray a sheet of foil with vegetable spray and cover the baking dish tightly with the foil, sprayed side down. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about an hour or until the internal temperature is 165 degrees. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for a few minutes, covered, before cutting and serving. Immediately prior to serving, heat the reserved portion of Alfredo Sauce and ladle the hot sauce over each slice of lasagna as it is served.