Well, it's the best vegetable lasagna I've had.

Ok. If my formatting looks strange that's because I pasted this in from an already typed up version. This is the best veggie lasagna I've had, ever, hands down. Not vegan though. If you want lacto-ovo veggie you also need to take out the Worcestershire sauce as it has anchovies in it. I've made some different versions of this, and I have written down some versions that take less time and effort but they're not as good. But they are faster. Sometimes faster trumps better. Just ask me about that after I chow down on a fast food double cheeseburger sometime. Snowdogs also want cheeseburgers, but they can't have them. It would interfere with their delicate constitutions. I'll post the faster but not as good version later. Maybe this weekend.

Also, we made this version of the best veggie lasagna ever for a visiting wendigo this weekend. She's small but feisty. We had a good time talking about stuff. My Yeti wife needed the brain stimulation.

Best Vegetable Lasagna I've had. Even Lasagne.

8 oz Fontina or whole milk mozzarella, shredded
1 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese, preferably fresh, shredded
6 oz or so medium or sharp Provolone, shredded
4 oz good feta, crumbled
2 large carrots, grated on a box grater
2 thawed packages of frozen chopped spinach, reserve the liquid
2 ribs of celery, grated on a box grater
3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced very fine
1 ½ medium onions, your favorite variety, grated on a box grater
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Black pepper, salt
teaspoon paprika
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1 lb lasagna noodles
about 26oz of your favorite marinara sauce, I like the organic Prego or Parmalat for this dish
Optional: 1 ½ to 2 oz fresh basil, shredded, added to sauce
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Preheat your oven to 350F.

In a deep and heavy bottomed saucepan or stock pot, add the tablespoon of olive oil. Place the saucepan over medium high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, add all the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, spinach, and associated water from the shredding or thawed garlic. Also add the Worcestershire sauce, oregano, a heavy pinch of salt, and about a teaspoon of ground black pepper. Make sure you add that liquid from the shredded veggies at it has a lot of good vitamins in it you don't want to lose. Sweat the vegetables and reduce the liquid. This will take probably 20-30 minutes on medium to medium-high heat. Stir it every once in a while too or the mix might burn. You'll want just a thin layer of water remaining in the bottom of the pan when you're done. The veggies should have a bit of body to them when you're done. You're not making mushy veg, unless you want it. I usually test the carrots and as long as they are sort of al dente that's fine for me. If you're not sure about how much liquid you have left, or if you have a lot more and you think your veggies are quite done, remove the vegetables and reduce the liquid down. Remove this mix from the heat and allow it to cool.

Add the paprika and optional basil to the sauce and stir it through. Add the crumbled feta to the cooled vegetable mix and stir that through. After all that stirring you're ready to assemble. Follow the diagram below. Bake for about 30 minutes. Allow to sit for 15 before cutting and serving. Enjoy.

And here is your construction diagram. Read this from the bottom up. I'd use an oven-safe pan with at least 2 inches of depth.
Layers
_________ etc. going up.
_________ pasta
_________ cheese
_________ mozz slices
_________ sauce
_________ veg
_________ pasta
Some small amount of sauce (it keeps the bottom noodles from sticking. Just ask Lidia Bastianich)
Deep sided oven-safe baking dish

Feeds about 3 Yeti with salad. Or 6 people. Or 2 very hungry snowdogs that are being very bad and standing on their hind legs and eating off your counter. My snowdogs are very well behaved and don't do that. Do yours?

French Onion Tart! Mmm, oniony. If you can't eat onions don't make this.

Over the recent eat-birds-and-bread holiday I put this together on a whim. Sometimes the Yeti food experiments work, and sometimes they don't. This one worked out really well. I found that the mixture of thyme and the carmelization of the onions and the shredded gruyere really recreated the taste of French onion soup. You want to leave the onion skin where noted to keep the onions from drying out in the oven. The skins are really easy to remove later. Just don't burn your fingers. Remember, abominable snowdogs shouldn't eat onion, it's not good for them.

Onion Tart with gruyere

3 tablespoons butter
1 large sprig thyme or 1 teaspoon dry thyme
2 tablespoons sugar
3 onions, medium sized, tips and root removed, skin left on and cut in half widthwise
1 pre-made pie crust, home made or store bought
About 4 ounces gruyere, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a 12-inch saute pan over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the thyme and sugar. Crowd the onions into the pan, center cuts down and skins on. Allow the onions to caramelize in the pan over medium heat, approximately 5 to10 minutes. Place the pan in the oven and cook until the onions are fork tender, approximately 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly, approximately 15 minutes. Remove the tough, outside onion skins without disturbing the onions.

Put about 1/3 of the shredded cheese in the bottom of the pre-made pie crust. Carefully add the onions, preferably cut side up, into the pie crust. Sprinkle the onions with a small pinch of salt, the rest of the gruyere, and a few grinds of pepper. Bake approximately 25 to 30 minutes or until the pie crust is golden brown and fully cooked. Remove the tart from the oven and allow it to cool to just warm. Cut into 6 pieces and serve alongside a green salad.

Serves 1 hungry Yeti, or 2 Yeti as a side dish, or 4 people.