Lasagna (Vegetarian)

Many of us love the comic character Garfield , the cute cat. He is known to be born in an Italian Restaurant . It would be portrayed that he is a cat of great affinity for Lasagna. From the minute of knowing it I got addicted to Lasagna. Yeah , I am a proud fan of Garfield and I love whatever he eats:) That cartoon inspired me a lot to grow with cats as my pet till my marriage.

Lasagna / Lasagne is a kind of pasta made like sheets with rippled adges. It is made into a recipe called 'lasagne al forno' (means 'oven-baked lasagne") . It is made with alternate layers of pasta, cheese, and often ragù (a meat sauce) or tomato sauce. Americans commonly use the singular term 'lasagna' while others use the Italian plural 'lasagne'.

I have made my version of vegetarian Lasagna without any Ragu sauce. Just like many other Italian dishes the preparation of Lasagna is also a very easy one.




To cook Lasagna:
whole wheat lasagna - 10 strips
Water - 1/2 of the vessel.

We may need a large vessel to accommodate the Lasagna as they always come as long strips. Smooth breaking is impossible before cooking:)
First bring the water to boil and add the full strips of Lasagna and cook as per directions. (Cook them 75 % and not completely)
Drain water and run it under cold water.
Then cut every strip into two equal parts.
Now we get 2o strips. We will be arranging them into 4 stacks of Lasagna

Preparing the vegetables:
olive oil - 2 tbsp
Kale leaf - 2 cups (chopped)
Spinach - 3 cups (chopped)
Black olive fruits - 10 (cut in circles)
yellow bell pepper - 1/2 cup (chopped)
Green bell pepper - 1/2 cup
Carrot - 1
Tomato - 1 cup(chopped)
Onion - 1/2 cup (chopped)
Red pepper flakes - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 2 cloves
Tomato sauce - 2 tbsp

Heat oil in a wok. Add the crushed garlic followed by the onion.
Then add the kale leaf with spinach and saute well. Keep aside.
Saute the vegetables and mix the tomato sauce , keep aside.

Pasta sauce :
Grated Parmesan cheese - 1/2 cup
low-fat cottage cheese - 1 cup
Dried mixed Italian herbs - 1 tbsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Sour cream (I used plain yogurt)- 1/2 cup
All purpose flour - 1 tsp (for thickening)

Mix the flour with milk. Then add everything above and mix well.
Pasta sauce is ready.
We can use ready made sauce also.
Divide it into 3.Mix one portion with the cooked vegetables another portion with the cooked greens and keep the remaining aside.

Arranging the layers:
Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray / oil.
First place a sheet of cooked Lasagna on the sheet.
Spread the Kale + spinach filling over the Lasagna.
Place the second layer of lasagna sheet over it.
Arrange the cooked vegetables on it.
Place the third sheet over it.
Again spread some more Kale + spinach filling.
Place the fourth Lasagna sheet again.
Spread the vegetables again.
Now place the fifth sheet over the vegetables.
The stacking should look like the playing cards:)
Now pour the prepared pasta sauce over the stacked lasagna.

Just like this make as many stacking as you want side by side.





Baking the Lasagna:
Shredded mozzarella cheese - 1/2 cup (1 cup if u want)
Italian seasoning - 1 tbsp

Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese , Italian seasoning powder over the arranged layers.
Preheat the oven to 325 deg F.Cover baking dish with aluminum foil.
The foil should not touch the top of Lasagna.
Bake for 45 minutes in oven. (Till the cheese in the top starts bubbling)
Then remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes ,so that the top is slightly brown.

Serving suggestions:
Serve as main course lunch or dinner along with any sides like garlic bread , french fries or any fried chicken along with a drink of your choice.
We had it with baked Texas toast and coke:)

Enjoy your weekend!

Tuti fruity and an award

Hope many of you are familiar with those Christmas cakes studded with the tiny bits of fruit like sweet. They are globally called as Tuti fruity / Tooti frooti .Actually these tiny pieces of heaven are not real fruits. They are made from the raw papaya colored and soaked in sugar.
We can buy them easily in any grocery shop. But the fact is if we are doing it at home, we can be sure of using some natural / organic colors and sugar-free stuff. Isn't it:)
The entire process will not take more than 30 minutes and we will be all set for a baking spree:)

In the mean time, I am so much thrilled when my friend Chakh..le..re passed me this cute award. Thank you so much dear. I feel honored.
I am passing on this cute award to any one who leave a comment here:)
Enjoy!



Tooti fruity:



Step 1:
Raw papaya - 1 (chopped 3 cups)
Water - 2 cup

Peel and wash the raw papaya.
Chop it into small pieces.
Bring 2 cups of water to boil and add the papaya pieces.
Cover and cook till the papaya gets 80 percent cooked.
(Don't cook it completely).
Drain excess water and keep the pieces aside.

Step 2:
Bring 1/2 cup of fresh water to boil.
Add 1 cup of sugar along with some sugar free sugar according to taste.
(We can add original sugar completely also.)
Add 5 drops of any organic food color .
Put the cooked papaya pieces and cook till the sugar starts crystallizing.

Tooti frooti is ready !

Let them cool and store in zip lock covers in refrigerator.

Notes:
The general colors are yellow , red and green.
Tooti fruity are used in making cakes , breads and ice creams.
We can make individual colors in separate vessels also.
Beet root juice , carrot juice can make natural colors.