Butternut Squash Lasagna

Set aside an hour or two to make this recipe. This is a variation of a classic lasagna that will impress the vegetarians in your life. I will break it down into the core ingredients, then assemble it it how I like to make it. Please feel free to improvise other ingredients into this lasagna and get creative! The finished product that I make is a sweet tasting lasagna with a note of healthy vegetables and salty cheese. Start off by cooking 20 of your favorite lasagna noodles, and ice them in water to stop the cooking process while you make the fillings.

The Sauce:
2 Cups milk
1/8 cup butter
1/4 Cup flour
1/4 tsp each dried Sage, Thyme, Nutmeg, Garlic
1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese

Melt the butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add sage, thyme and nutmeg, and cook for 1 minute. Add garlic, mix, then add flour and stir until the flour has created a pasty sludge at the bottom of your saucepan. Whisk in milk, and slowly bring to a boil over medium heat while whisking frequently. Once the mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and whisk in Parmesan cheese. Set aside.

The Fillings

I break my layers into the following setup, starting with the bare pan, with noodles in between each layer listed:

1. Thinly sliced tomatoes with pepper
2. Squash mixture with sauce
3. Cheese (I prefer a simple sharp cheddar in here, but some may prefer a more traditional cottage cheese or Ricotta)
4. Vegetable mixture
5. Remaining sauce with more cheese on top

The Squash Mixture

1 butternut squash
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and fresh pepper

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Take a medium to large size butternut squash, wash, peel, core, and dice into small chunks about 2cms large. Place in a large bowl, and toss in the oil, salt, and fresh pepper to coat well. Pour onto a baking sheet, and cook on center rack for 20 minutes. Squash should be tender and easy to pierce with a fork when removed from oven. Place cooked squash into a saucepan and mash to the consistency of mashed potatoes. Set aside.

The Vegetable Mixture

1 Zucchini thinly sliced
1 med sized bag of fresh spinach diced into 3 cm chunks (About 3 cups worth, it will reduce upon cooking)
2 Tomatoes (Try heirlooms here!) medium dice
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil

Heat olive oil in a fry pan. Sauté Zucchini and garlic over medium heat until zucchini is soft, about two minutes. Add Spinach, and mix just until the spinach wilts and begins to shrink. Remove from heat, and sprinkle diced tomatoes over mixture. Set aside.

The Assembly

Start by putting a layer of thinly sliced tomatoes on the bottom of your baking pan, and sprinkle with pepper.
Put a layer of noodles on top.
Spread your squash mixture over the noodles with a spatula, and cover with approximately half of your white sauce.
Put a layer of noodles on top.
Spread out 2 cups of grated sharp cheddar (or whichever cheese you prefer).
Put a layer of noodles on top.
Spread out your vegetable/tomato mixture, and sprinkle with Parmesan to taste
Put a layer of noodles on top.
Pour your remaining white sauce over the top, and cover with 2 cups of grated Mozzarella.

Bake at 350ºF for 25-35 minutes, or until top cheese is bubbly and sauces can be seen boiling in the pan.

Let sit for 10 minutes before service!

Guacamole

Here is a very basic but delicious version of traditional guacamole. The key to great guacamole is choosing the right avocado, and being careful not to use it before it is ripe. Peeling an avocado is really simple with this technique: Press a sharp knife into the stem area of the avocado as if you were going to chop it in half from the top-down. When you reach the pit, turn your knife around the pit down one side, around the bottom, and back up to the stem cut you started with. Your avocado should look like two halves held together by the pit, one continuous cut separating the halves. Now, grab a half in each hand, and turn in opposite directions to break one of the halves from the pit. Place the half with the pit still attached on a cutting board, and use your knife like an axe to cut into the pit with one short blow. Your knife should be embedded in the pit. Hold the bottom of the avocado and turn your knife to break the pit from the half. Scoop out the goodies with a spoon!

2 ripe, soft avocados
1tsp lemon juice (or to taste)
1tsp lime juice (or to taste)
Dash of Habanero or Tobasco hot sauce (to taste)
2 TBSP Fresh Cilantro leaves, chopped
Fresh pepper to taste
Salt to taste


Scoop avocado into a medium bowl. Add all other ingredients, and press avocado into the bottom of the bowl with the back side of a fork until the mixture is a consistency you are happy with. Serve!

Remember, avocado plus air equals brown. Take care to cover remaining guacamole as soon as you serve it.

Basic Italian Marinara and Pomodoro Sauces For Pasta

There are plenty of variations on pomodoro and marinara sauces. The basic concept is a mixture of tomatoes, garlic, and basil. A marinara sauce tends to be a chunkier version of pomodoro, and tends to have oregano and onion whereas pomodoro is quite simply seasoned puréed tomatoes with basil and pepper. My favorite sauce is a hybrid of both styles, using chunky diced tomatoes, no oregano, and with very little simmering.

You can cook this sauce a little longer and purée it with a hand mixer, or even go full blown pasta and saute some celery and carrots into it. I like simple sauce though.

Ingredients

1 large can of diced tomatoes, or 4-5 large, fresh (very red) tomatoes
4-6 cloves of fresh garlic, minced or pressed
A good bunch of fresh basil leaves, torn into shreds
(touch your thumb to your index fingers, stuff enough basil leaves to fill that space)
5tbsp quality olive oil
Fresh ground pepper

Method

Put the olive oil into a heavy bottomed saucepan, and heat with fresh pepper on med-low heat until the pepper begins to sputter. Add minced garlic, and sauté. If your heat is too high here, you will "bitter" the garlic, and your sauce will lose a key ingredient. Mix the garlic around in the oil, and cook only long enough to soften it up and infuse the oil, maybe three or four minutes. Add the can of tomatoes. (do not drain!) If you are using fresh tomatoes, dice them up, and be sure to empty the natural juices into the sauté pan! Heat the tomatoes up, but do not simmer them. Allow the low heat to work its magic, turning the mixture from the bottom up. Once the tomatoes are hot, the sauce is fully cooked. Add the freshly shredded basil, and serve immediately over your favorite pasta.

Top with parmesan, and serve with a nice crusty bread to sop up the remaining sauce once the pasta's all gone.