Berry Good Bolognese

Did you know that the eggplant is actually a variety of berry? I learned that from television, so don't tell me all those hours I've wasted staring at the glowing box were for not. However I learned this recipe not from the TV, but from Everyday Food, of course. It was one of their reader submitted recipe's and had been on my to-cook list for quite some time. I decided to make it one weekend so that I could stock the freezer with the leftover sauce. I'm planning on doing a big cooking weekend soon, so I can stock the freezer even more, but this was a good start. I will definitely make this recipe again, when I'm out of my leftovers that is.

Eggplant Bolognese
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 8












8 tablespoons olive oil
1 large eggplant (about 1 lb.), peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed), finely chopped
1 zucchini (about 8 oz), quartered lengthwise, sliced inch thick crosswise
1 garlic clove, minced
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 lb. ground beef chuck
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 lb. rigatoni or other short tubular pasta
Parmesan cheese, shaved (optional)

• In a Dutch oven or large (5-quart) saucepan with a lid, heat 6 tablespoons oil over medium-high. Add eggplant; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; set aside.
• Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to pan; reduce heat to medium. Add onion, bell pepper, zucchini, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have softened, 7 to 10 minutes.
• Add beef; cook, stirring and breaking up meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, 5 minutes.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, add tomatoes, oregano, and eggplant to beef-vegetable mixture; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thick and eggplant is tender, about 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain; serve topped with sauce and, if desired, Parmesan.

My notes: This came out to more like 6 servings for us, guess we just couldn't help but eat a little extra. I served this over Ditalin pasta, because that's what I happened to have. A ridged pasta would be better for the sauce to grip to, but it didn't affect the taste which was delicious.

Wish Me Luck

I'm already clumsy as it is, but when I have a rough night in the kitchen it can really get me down. And last night I took a beating. Things seemed to go especially rough considering it was a repeat meal on the menu. I got home and began prepping to make Rigatoni with Sausage, Peppers, and Onions. What could go wrong, you ask? How about everything.

-While slicing onion on my mandolin some onion was flung into my eye! My EYE! And my hands were covered in onion juice, so I couldn't just react. I had to get a paper towel, carefully wipe the onion stuff from the corner of my eye, scrub my hands as I watched myself cry in the mirror, and finally be able to flush my eye.

-My sausages cooking away in olive oil decided nothing would be nicer than to open just ever so slightly at the ends, causing extra fat and grease to splatter all about. Grease is flying everywhere, and despite me using a pot lid as a shield I get a burn on my hand. Also, thanks to all the fat sputtering from the end of the sausage, there are burned splotches in my pan. I can't just plop my peppers and onions in there to cook, unless I was looking for a charred flavor. Which I wasn't. So I had to clean out the pan and start over with fresh olive oil.

-Boiling water? Check. Package of rigatoni? Check. LIVE BUGS IN THE BAG. CHECK!!! Oh by the hammer of Thor, there were live bugs in my bag of pasta. Live. Living. Well, most of them died as soon as they got dumped into the boiling water. In fact, I thought that they were dead, until I inspected the pasta bag I had already tossed in the trash and saw several still breathing, still moving specimens. Had to dump the pasta and clean the pot. Luckily, oh so luckily, I still had a half package of rigatoni from another recipe. Which I scrutinized well before using.

This recipe came out a little saucier than the last time, since there wasn't as much rigatoni, but it wasn't a detrimental issue. In fact, considering all the trouble I had, it's a wonder that the dish came out just as delicious as I remembered. At least there's some consolation in that.

Twice As Nice

Since I am now officially on Christmas Vacation (YES!!!) I thought I would go ahead and post about tonight's dinner. Tomorrow will be filled with laundry, gift wrapping, and more cooking, so best to get it done before I forget. Tonight's meal is another one made in duplicate for the new mommy & daddy. For some reason last night I kept dreaming about this dish. That has never happened to me before, but I actually had several dreams through the course of the night that involved Spinach Lasagna. Every time I awoke from a dream I'd think to myself, "Oh yeah, I'm making Spinach Lasagna tomorrow night." When I got up this morning it was to the point that I was almost feeling hesitant about the evening's meal. It seemed like dreaming about lasagna couldn't be a good thing. Opposite to all foreboding the meal came together very easily. I was a little low on cheese, so I put together the dish for the freezer first. Wouldn't want to stiff the new parents on mozzarella. I had enough cheese in the end, as you know lasagna is so overly cheesy it wasn't a real problem being just a smidge low on it. This was really so easy I'm wondering why I hadn't been making two at a time all along, and saving myself twice the effort for two meals. Obviously this is isn't the first time that I've posted about the Spinach Lasagna, but this being such a fast, easy and healthy recipe I figured it definitely worth re-posting at this most hectic and indulgent time of year.

Spinach Lasagna
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 8












4 cups (32 oz.) whole-milk ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
Salt and fresh ground pepper
2 10 oz. packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove excess moisture
6 cups store-bought or homemade tomato sauce
12 no-boil lasagna noodles
1 lb. (4 cups) fontina cheese, shredded

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together ricotta cheese, eggs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add spinach, and stir well to combine.
• Spread a small bit of tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish or dishes. Arrange a layer of lasagna noodles on top. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over the noodles, followed by 1/3 of the remaining sauce; sprinkle with 1/3 of the grated cheese. Repeat to make two more layers, ending with cheese. If freezing, cover tightly with plastic wrap. Before baking, defrost in the refrigerator overnight.
• Cover with aluminum foil. Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil; continue baking until top is golden brown, about 15 minutes more. Let cool slightly before serving.

My notes: I always use part-skim ricotta, mozzarella in place of the fontina, and top it off with a little parmesan for good measure. I've been using aluminum 8" square pans for all the freezer goodies I've been packing, and with this recipe it was a little shallow, and a little weak. If using one of these yourself to freeze your second batch then I would suggest that you go a little thinner with your sauce. In my written directions to the couple I also suggested putting it on a baking sheet to cook, in case of any spill over. It was also a little harder to wrap the plastic wrap all the way around the pan, since it was very full and a little weighty, but I managed. Just an fyi to be careful. Or use something better than a slightly shallow aluminum pan, ha. Also, each 8" pan should serve four, but I can easily get 6 servings out of it.

Strong To The Finish

Popeye would be proud. Last night I made Spinach Lasagna. Josh has been a fan of this recipe for a while. I had forgotten how easy it actually is, especially when I put the spinach to drain in the fridge overnight. I rig a little set up with a bowl, a sifter, some plastic wrap, and another bowl and then by the time I get home from work all it needs is a little extra pressing and I'm rid of most of the excess moisture. This is also a great go-to recipe when you're entertaining vegetarians for dinner and don't have a clue what to serve. Easy and basic enough that it should appeal to everyone at the table and it can be assembled ahead of time and popped in the oven at the right moment. This is a Martha Stewart recipe and one of the first things I made when we started trying to eat healthier. Martha calls it Vegetable Lasagna, but considering the only vegetable in it is the spinach I think that name is a little misleading. Oh, and I'm fully aware my picture probably isn't all that appetizing, but have you ever tried to take a fabulous picture of lasagna? Even Martha's picture isn't all that pretty to me.

Spinach Lasagna
Recipe from Martha Stewart; Serves 8
4 cups (32 oz.) whole-milk ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
Salt and fresh ground pepper
2 10 oz. packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove excess moisture
6 cups store-bought or homemade tomato sauce
12 no-boil lasagna noodles
1 lb. (4 cups) fontina cheese, shredded

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together ricotta cheese, eggs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add spinach, and stir well to combine.
• Spread a small bit of tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish or dishes. Arrange a layer of lasagna noodles on top. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over the noodles, followed by 1/3 of the remaining sauce; sprinkle with 1/3 of the grated cheese. Repeat to make two more layers, ending with cheese. If freezing, cover tightly with plastic wrap. Before baking, defrost in the refrigerator overnight.
• Cover with aluminum foil. Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil; continue baking until top is golden brown, about 15 minutes more. Let cool slightly before serving.

My notes: I typically halve this recipe. Their portion sizes are kind of large, we usually get more than 4 servings out of one 8" x 8" pan, so a 9" x 13" is really just too much for the two of us. I use part-skim ricotta instead of whole, and buy the 15 oz. container when halving the recipe. That's technically an ounce short of half, but are we going to quibble over tiny details? I almost always use Hunt's canned tomato sauce because it's often on sale for $1. I also use shredded mozzarella cheese instead of fontina. It's easier to find and I in fact often need it for making pizza so it's just easier to buy one cheese instead of two. On the top layer I usually sprinkle some grated parmesan along with the mozzarella cause the hubby loves his parm.

Oh, and a note on draining my spinach. I take one bowl, and put my fine-mesh sifter over it. My sifter has little pegs to help it sit atop a bowl, which is nifty. Put the spinach in the sifter, put a layer of plastic wrap over it, and then put a bowl on top to help press down the spinach. Then I just leave it in the fridge overnight until I get home from work and let gravity do most of the work for me. I'm sure I'm not the first person to do this, but it's a big part of making this recipe a quick one, so I thought I'd explain it.

New Veggies In Our Bellies

Last night I made Baked Eggplant Parmesan. I'd only cooked with eggplant once before, and that was in a ratatouille, so I really didn't have a good idea of the individual flavors of the eggplant. Of course, between the parmesan, sauce, mozzarella, and herbs I might still be a bit in the dark as far as the eggplant goes, but I do know that I like this dish. And the surprising thing is Josh liked it as well. I served it over some penne, preventing Josh from giving me glaring looks between eyeing a plate covered in discs of vegetable and tomato sauce. He likes the veggies, but it can still take some creativity to make them appealing to him. Josh said he is "all thumbs up" for this recipe.

Baked Eggplant Parmesan
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 8

Olive oil for baking sheets
2 large eggs
3/4 cup plain dry breadcrumbs
3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan, plus 2 tbsp. for topping
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried basil
Coarse Salt and ground pepper
2 large eggplants (appx. 2.5 lbs. total), peeled and sliced into 1/2" rounds
6 cups (48 oz.) store-bought or homemade chunky tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella

• Preheat oven to 375°. Brush 2 baking sheets with oil; set aside. In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together eggs and 2 tablespoons water. In another bowl, combine breadcrumbs, 3/4 cup Parmesan, oregano, and basil; season with salt and pepper.
• Dip eggplant slices in egg mixture, letting excess drip off, then dredge in breadcrumb mixture, coating well; place on baking sheets. Bake until golden brown on bottom, 20 to 25 minutes. Turn slices; continue baking until browned on other side, 20 to 25 minutes more. Remove from oven; raise oven heat to 400°.
• Spread 2 cups sauce in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Arrange half the eggplant in dish; cover with 2 cups sauce, then 1/2 cup mozzarella. Repeat with remaining eggplant, sauce, and mozzarella; sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Bake until sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted, 15 to 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Per Serving: 279 calories; 10.8 grams fat; 14.9 grams protein; 30.7 grams carbohydrate; 5.1 grams fiber