The first recipe I tried was for Mushroom Stroganoff and it was delicious. The leftovers were great for lunch the next day or two as well. I was in a rush that night and didn't get around to blogging about it.
And tonight I tried this one. OMG!!! SOOOOOOO DELICIOUS!!! I wanted to make sure and get it down here because we will definitely be having it again.
Garden Basket Lasagna
Makes 8 GIGANTIC servings
9 points per serving
Approximate cost for this meal: $10
The sauce:
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 medium onions, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 6-ounce cans tomato paste
2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes
I used 4 pints of home canned tomatoes...sooo yummy!
1 cup fresh parsley, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
3 bay leaves
2 slices lemon
I didn't have any so I skipped it.
1/4 teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper
The filling:
1 Tablespoon caraway seeds, lightly toasted in a dry skillet over medium high heat till fragrant
15 ounces part skim ricotta cheese
1 cup light sour cream
2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
2 medium yellow squash, thinly sliced
2 medium green bell pepper, thinly sliced
8 oz. part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
8 oz (9 pieces) dry lasagna noodles
1 Tablespoon olive oil
About 30 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Heat the 3 Tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet and saute the onions and garlic several minutes. Add the tomato paste and chopped canned tomatoes, discarding the juice from one of the cans, but including the juice from the other. Bring to a simmer and add the parsley, oregano, basil, bay leaves, lemon slices, salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered over low heat about 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is considerably reduced.
Meanwhile bring several quarts of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until almost al dente. It will finish cooking in the oven.Cool the noodles in a bowl of cold water, drain and place on waxed paper until ready to use.
In a small bowl combine the ricotta, sour cream and caraway seeds.
Rub a 9X13 (BIGGER!) baking dish with the 1 Tablespoon olive oil.
Build the lasagna in layers in this order, pressing the layers down as you go:
1/4 of the tomato sauce
1/3 of each of the sliced vegetables
1/3 of the noodles
1/2 the ricotta cheese mixture
1/3 of the mozzarella
1/3 of the remaining sauce
1/2 of each of the remaining vegetables
1/2 the remaining noodles
all the remaining ricotta mixture
1/2 the remaining mozzarella
1/2 the remaining sauce
all the remaining vegetables
all the remaining noodles
all the remaining sauce
Cover tightly with foil and bake 45 minutes.
Remove foil and top with the remaining mozzarella and the parmesan cheese.
Return to the oven and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving.
What we thought:
I LOVED it. Truly LOVED it! More than the meat lasagna I usually make.
I wasn't sure about the caraway seeds when I first read the recipe. I am pretty sure it was caraway seeds that made school lunch pizza so unappealing to me in my school days. But I made the recipe as written because that's my quirky rule for trying new recipes. And I LOVED them! They get kind of tender once they've cooked and give a yummy burst of flavor when you bite into them.
The veggies were perfectly crisp tender. Perfectly! I was afraid they'd get overcooked and soggy but that wasn't the case at all.
Am I the only one that gets kind of confused reading instructions for layering lasagna? Well, I do. So I rewrote the instructions here to hopefully simplify it. Hopefully it makes better sense to you too.
Roger, Kenzie and Emily all said they liked it and they'd have it again.
Jaxon picked the noodles out and seemed to like those.
I would definitely use and actual lasagna pan rather than a 9X13. This is a HUGE pan of lasagna. It must weigh 15 pounds! I'd say it's more like 10 or 12 servings, realistically.
I'd add more salt somewhere next time. In the sauce and maybe also in the ricotta mixture.
I bet the fresh herbs would take it totally over the top in flavor. Mmmmm.....
SOOOOO DELICIOUS! You should try it!
I served it with salad and bread.
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