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!

Oven baked Pasta

Inspired by the restaurants and advertisements I made my very own version of 'Oven baked Pasta' with lesser cheese, lots of vegetables and rotini pasta . (Rotini is a type of helix- or corkscrew-shaped pasta made with AP flour or whole wheat). This recipe calls for a slow baking process, through which the pasta gets well soaked in the pasta sauce, that makes it more juicy and delicious.
Here is the step by step procedure.

Before baking:


After baking:

Cooking the pasta:
Rotini Pasta (any big size pasta) - 2 cups (uncooked)
Water - 6 cups
First bring the water to boil and add the pasta and cook as per directions.
Drain water and run it under cold water.


Preparing the vegetables:
olive oil - 2 tbsp
Kale leaf - 1 cup (chopped)
Black olive fruits - 10 (cut in circles)
yellow bell pepper - 1/2 cup (chopped)
Green bell pepper - 1/2 cup
Carrot - 1 (cut into 2 inch sticks)
Onion - 1/2 cup (chopped)
Red pepper flakes - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 2 cloves
Heat oil in a wok. The add the crushed garlic followed by the onion and kale leaf.
Then add the chopped carrot and saute well.
Then add all above except olives and stir well.
Switch off flame .Now add the olives along with cooked pasta.

Preparation of Pasta sauce:
Tomato sauce - 5 tbsp
Dried mixed Italian herbs - 1 tbsp
Milk - 1/6 cup
Sour cream (I used plain yogurt)- 2 tbsp
shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese - 1 tbsp
All purpose flour - 1 tsp (for thickening)
Mix the flour with milk. Then add everything above and mix well.
Low fat Pasta sauce is ready.

Baking the pasta:
Shredded mozzarella cheese - 1/2 cup (1 cup if u want)
Low fat Ranch dressing - 2 tbsp (optional)

1.Preheat the oven to 400 deg F. Mix the prepared pasta sauce with the cooked pasta with vegetables.
2.Spray a 9 inch dia' baking dish with olive oil.
3.Transfer the mixed pasta to baking dish. Drizzle some ranch dressing and top it with the mozzarella cheese . Bake for 15 minutes or till the cheese starts bubbling.

Oven baked pasta is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as main course lunch / dinner.
Garlic bread or Texas toast can be served as side along with a drink . I love it with coke:)
Serves 3.

Event:
Sending this oven baked pasta to Poornima's (Tasty treats) My Favorite things: cheese event which is a brain child of Bindiya .
Hope this suits the event.