Faster but not as good veggie lasagna

Hey to all you Yeti lovers, and the less adventurous among you. This is a similar but easier and faster veggie lasagna than the version I just posted. I really like the other one much better in terms of texture and overall presentation (it holds together better, etc.), but this one is good too. And faster. And easier. This way you can spend more time with your snowdogs.

Veggie Lasagna

1 package of lasagna noodles (12 or 16 ounces), or you can use ready-to-bake ones too.
½ cup of julienne carrots
1 medium onion, small dice
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 bell pepper, small dice
some good tomato sauce (I like Prego brand, organic, or Parmalat, but use your favorite plain marinara)
about 1 to 1 ½ lbs of shredded cheese – I prefer a blend of provolone, mozzarella, asiago, parmesan and romano)
2 tablespoons good olive oil
optional – fresh basil and oregano
even more optional – a good, quick and basic tomato sauce for this can be made from a 16 ounce can of plain chopped tomatoes, 1 tsp of garlic powder, 1 tsp of onion powder, some basil and oregano, a pinch of dried rosemary, a small pinch of sugar, some salt and pepper, allowed to simmer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-low heat. Sauté together the onion, carrots, garlic and bell pepper until the carrots are softened. Add the thawed and drained spinach and about 1 cup of the tomato sauce. Bring to a low simmer and then remove from the heat and allow to cool. This is the filling for the lasagna. If you are using lasagna noodles that need pre-cooking, then start a pot of lightly salted water boiling for the pasta.

After the vegetable and tomato sauce mixture and everything else is prepared, partially cook the lasagna noodles. They should only be cooked until flexible, not until done or al dente, as they will finish in the oven. They should be drained and rinsed with cold water to stop the cooking process.

Lightly oil a deep pan (either 9 x 9 or 9 x 13 or something like that, preferably at least 2 inches deep) or spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom. This will prevent the lasagna from sticking.
Spoon a thin layer of the vegetable and sauce mixture on the bottom of the oiled pan.

Lay a single overlapping layer of lasagna noodles over the top of the mixture, and then sprinkle liberally with cheese. This is also a good time to add the optional fresh basil and oregano. Add additional tomato sauce, veggie mixture or cheese where desired. Repeat the layering until within a ¼ inch of the top of the pan and finish with a tomato sauce and cheese layer. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes. This can also be frozen before baking and placed directly from the freezer to the oven but the time needs to be increased to and hour and 15 minutes.

This feeds a couple of Yeti, or two to three couples with salad (about 6 people). This doesn't feed any snowdogs because they can't eat onions, it's bad for them.

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?

Sharp and savory sage butter noodles - great with lamb

Ok, when the Yeti wife and I were on vacation a while ago, we ate at a restaurant that had some sage noodles on the ala carte menu. I thought that they looked interesting and I tried them. Well, boy, was I disappointed. Everything else on the menu was pretty good, and also since this was a classic-style French bistro I expected the noodles to follow suit. But, alas, poor me! No good buttery sage noodles for this Yeti. The noodles were very tough and overworked, and the taste of the buttery sage sauce was very underwhelming and disappointing. Oh, woe is me! Ahem, well, ok, they were disappointing but the rest of the meal was pretty good.

Now, when I got home, I decided that I could do much better. So, here is a sauce for egg noodles that is delicate, savory, and just a little sharp thanks to a little acid from some lemon juice. And the snowdogs didn't go with us on vacation that time, but they would have liked it. Instead they went to snowdog spa.

Sharp and savory sage butter noodles

Ok, you'll want to make the sauce before cooking the noodles otherwise your noodles will probably be overcooked. This makes enough for coating about 12-16 ounces of pasta.

2 medium shallots or 1/4 white onion, small dice. Preferably the shallots.
1 tablespoon of butter for the shallots / onion. You can use olive oil if you want but the texture and flavor won't be quite the same. If you use olive oil, use the cheap stuff and not your virgin first cold press good stuff.
heavy pinch of salt, about 1/8 teaspoon
1 tablespoon of butter
2 teaspoons of flour
3-4 fresh sage leaves, slightly bruised and chiffonade (cut into ribbons) or 1 teaspoon dried sage leaves, crushed
1/4 cup dry white wine or light stock, chicken or something similar. I prefer wine for this, but you can use something else if you don't want the residual alcohol.

1/4 cup of water from cooking your pasta
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 more teaspoon or so of butter
white or black pepper, to taste, optional
couple of tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley, optional

12-16 ounces of packaged egg noodles or, preferably, a batch of your home-made noodles rolled thin and cut into 1/2 inch wide ribbons. Mmm, yummy.
Salt for your pasta water.

Ok, this recipe takes a little bit of coordination so you may want to read through this before starting it. Choose a heavy bottomed saucier or saucepan big enough for your noodles that is big enough for holding all your cooked noodles with the sauce. In your saucepan or a saucier place one tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add the shallots / onion and sweat over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Also add your heavy pinch of salt, about 1/8 teaspoon, at this point. You want the shallot to be translucent and soft, but not to have any color. You're not sauteeing here. Then add the other tablespoon of butter and the flour. You're going to make a thin roux. Whisk this flour and butter/shallot mixture over medium heat until the flour is well incorporated in the butter. Keep whisking this mixture over medium heat slowly but steadily for about 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the sage and mix. Add the 1/4 cup of wine or other liquid and bring to a boil. When the mixture reaches a boil, whisk one more time and remove from the heat.

Cook your pasta to your preferred doneness. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the pasta water and then drain the pasta without rinsing it. Add this pasta water and the lemon juice (here's your acid tangy sharpness) to the sauce, return to a boil, and allow to boil for about 30 seconds and then add the final teaspoon of butter for a nice smooth texture. If you want your sauce to be thicker, allow it to boil for another 30 seconds or so. Toss your pasta with the sauce and serve. You can crack black pepper (or use a pinch of white pepper if you want to be all Frenchified fancy with it) over it to taste. Just a little though, as this is all about the sage and butter. Toss with parsley if desired and serve.

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

No-pine-nut Pesto, with variations

This is a pesto that I often use when other Yeti are visiting me that do not like pine nuts. You can also add 1/4 cup of toasted hazelnuts, walnuts, or even cashews to this before blending to make a texture closer to that of traditional pesto without using pine nuts.

¾ cup loosely packed fresh Basil leaves (do not use dried basil, this would turn out strange)
2 medium cloves garlic or 1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons Olive oil
2 tablespoons grated good aged Parmesan or Romano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

½ pound Pasta of your choice

Place olive oil, garlic, optional nuts, and basil in blender. Pulse until smooth.

Cook pasta. Drain but do not rinse pasta. Toss sauce with pasta. Add cheese and toss again.

Serves 1 Yeti or 2 people with leftovers or 3-4 people as a side dish