Recipes From The Field - Cucina di Campo

Welcome to Cucina di Campo!

7/14/2009

For our inaugural blog, a story about Veggie Lasagna... I'll be blogging about the food I make at home in Scottsdale, Arizona. It's 114 degrees outside, so I might as well cook and write!


Some of the best lasagna I have ever eaten was made with grilled vegetables like eggplant and zucchini. A friend of ours, who happens to be a vegetarian, was in town. We decided to get a ton of veggies, and grill them for a lasagna. We had made fresh pasta the day before (fresh tagliatelle with scampi and another one with white clam sauce) and had about half a batch left. Now, this was hands down the best pasta dough I had ever made and it rolled out perfectly for lasagna noodles - more then I needed for the 8x12 pan I was using.



1 medium eggplant
2 zucchini
2 yellow summer squash
1 red onion
2-3 portabella mushrooms*
1 each green and red bell peppers
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1.5 lbs ricotta cheese
.5 cups Parmesan cheese
.5 cups Italian parsley, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups tomato sauce
lasagna noodles*
.5-1 lbs mozzarella cheese, shredded
1-2 tbsp dried oregano
.25 cups olive oil
sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper
lasagna pan*


Remove top and bottom of eggplant, then make .25 inch slices, cutting lengthwise. You want to make long strips rather than rounds. Do the same with the zucchini, squash and onion. Cut the mushroom stems so they are even with the gills. Cut the peppers in half vertically and remove the stems, white ribs and seeds. Place all of the veggies in a single layer on a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, freshly cracked pepper and oregano. Toss the veggies so they are coated in the oil and spice mixture.

Grill all of the vegetables over a medium flame for 15-20 minutes, or until they are browned. The pepper skins will bubble up and get fairly crisp - this is fine. Make sure to turn the vegetables at times to ensure even cooking. Remove them when done and let cool.

Mix the eggs, ricotta, parsley, garlic, carrot and .25 cups of Parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Coat the inside of your lasagna pan with olive oil, then spread .5 cups of tomato sauce on the bottom. Add a layer of pasta, then half of the egg and ricotta mixture. Layer half of the vegetables and top with a third of the mozzarella cheese. Top with .5 cups of tomato sauce, and repeat the remaining layers - pasta, ricotta, veggies, mozzarella, sauce. Place one more layer of pasta, then the remaining sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan.

Cook in a 375 degree oven 40-50 minutes. If the cheese starts to brown, cover loosely with aluminum foil. Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting.



*What's the story with portabella mushrooms - was the name "mature cremini" so off putting that it had to be changed by a marketing team? I usually make fresh pasta, and lasagna noodles are the easiest pasta shape to make. The pasta recipe is another story... Feel free to use dried or even whatever pasta you have in the house - then it's just baked pasta, not lasagna. Prepare the noodles as directed on the package. If using fresh pasta, cook in heavily salted water rolling at a boil for two minutes. Cook it in batches without crowding the water. Drain the pasta and place in an ice water bath until needed. I used an 8x12 inches Pyrex dish - use whatever you have around. Those nice stoneware dishes are perfect. Just make sure to trim your prepared noodles to fit the pan - you don't want too much to hang over the sides.