Friday, July 10, 2009

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!

28 comments:

Parita said...

Lasagna looks delicious! very nicely explained!

Ann said...

YUMMMY! I love Lasagna:) This one looks too tempting.

Priya Suresh said...

WOww i love lasagna..yummy and colourful dish!

Anonymous said...

Haha..viki,Garifield fan,another one here..Lasgana as well.I have some with me..
looks real rich and yummy..

Suparna said...

hey viki,
Ur write ups build up good amout of interest to people who read :)
I love Garfield too!!!he's a smart cat! he really over smarts his master too :)
Lasagna looks so creamy chessy and so well prepared...just want to dig my teeth into it ...yumm
TC

Shama Nagarajan said...

looks yummy and tempting dear....yummy yummy

Sarah Naveen said...

Wow!!!! That looks so yummalicious!!!!

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

very creamy and yummy! Awesome job...

Raks said...

Looks like lots of effort,but worth try it,great job viki!

ashsdelicacies.blogspot.ca said...

Lasagna looks awesome...a very nice n yummy dish...would love to have it now....

Sushma Mallya said...

hi viki..lasangna looks yummy...thanks for visiting my blog.....keep visiting and u too have a nice collection of recipes...

Hari Chandana P said...

WOW..looks soo yummm

Lena Jayadev said...

wow...this looks amazing Vkzzz.. :)i wish i could grab dem..lol...amazing snaps... :)

Gita Jaishankar said...

Nice presentation dear...wow the lasagna looks awesome...I have never tried making this at home...I am planning to try out ur recipe soon :)

Padma said...

Lasagna looks so delicious and tempting pictures :)

lissie said...

great job, Vicky! Lasagna has turned out well...looks yumm! perfect dish for a weekend lunch... :)

Subhie Arun said...

looks delicious yar..creamy chessy and well prepared...mouthwatering..thx for sharing

Cynthia said...

This is a really good main dish to make when entertaining and one's guests are vegetarians. You know what might be nice too? To fire-roast the vegetables for the lasanga.

Unknown said...

the cheese is making me drool...good one..

Malar Gandhi said...

Lasagna pictures makes me drool over it!:) Love the addition of kale, spinach and all good veggies to it!:) A must try one for me!:)

Malar Gandhi said...

No idea about that cartoon da, so cudnt comment!:( But I know you love cats, sweetheart!:)

Sanghi said...

Mmm yummmy tempting!

Doloncookbook said...

Lasagna looks delicious & yummy ...

Kalaivani said...

One of my fav dish.pic makes me to drool.looks so delicious.

Unknown said...

Havent tried making lasagna at home..Urs look delicious Viki..Thanx for the recipe

Chitra said...

Good u try italian cuisine...i dont dare to experiment:)

Premyscakes said...

yummy and cheesy, asusual enjoyed your write up.

Srilakshmi said...

Garfield & Lasagna? That's something I didn't know.. Lasagna looks lovely, I've been looking for veggie lasagna for a long time now!

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