Let's just say I love lasagna. I have been disappointed that we can't have lasagna lately because of my husband's lactose intolerance (of course I asked his permission before I posted this). His intolerance is more towards ricotta cheese and heavy cream. Thank goodness we can still have other cheeses, milks and butters! He came home with a Cook's Illustrated Make Ahead Meals magazine issue and one of the recipes we had to try was the roasted zucchini and eggplant lasagna.

We have made this recipe twice and it has become our favorite lasagna recipe. This recipe is going into the favorites pile and will probably become a part of our regular rotation. The problem is it makes tons, too much for two people to eat. I have brought it into work and my co-workers love it!

Cook's Illustrated recommends that we use Barilla's no boil pasta and it definitely works. Also, for the roasted vegetables, I upped the amount of eggplant from one pound to one and a half pounds and that worked as well. I don't know about you but it's hard to get a full dinner from scratch made after a full day of work. Every time I have made this recipe, I roasted the vegetables the night before according to the instructions. Then allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes and then place into a plastic container where I let it cool for another 20-30 minutes before putting it in the refrigerator. The next night, I assemble the lasagna and there is no need to heat up the roasted vegetables.

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Roasted Zucchini and Eggplant Lasagna

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Resting Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours 35 minutes minutes

Ingredients

Vegetables

• 1 pound of zucchini cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 1 1/2 pounds of eggplant cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• salt and pepper

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium garlic cloves minced
• 1 28- oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

Lasagna

• 12 no boil lasagna noodles from an 8-oz or 9-oz box
• 1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese about 4 cups
• 3 oz Parmesan cheese about 1 1/2 cups

Instructions

• Move oven racks to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Toss the diced zucchini and eggplant with garlic, salt, pepper and 3 Tbsp of olive oil.
• On two cookie sheets covered in foil that is greased with olive oil, divide the diced vegetables and spread evenly over the cookie sheets.
• Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Be sure to turn the vegetables occasionally and I even switch the cookie sheets' position. (As stated above, the roasting of the vegetables can be done a day ahead of time.)
• Add 2 Tbsp of olive oil and 2 cloves of minced garlic to a pot at medium heat. Allow the garlic to cook for 30 seconds, don't burn the garlic.
• Add the crushed tomatoes to the pot with olive oil and garlic. Add a little bit of salt to taste. Cook at medium heat for about 2 minutes. Bring down to simmer and cook until thickened for another 5 minutes. Mix in basil and salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce into a large measuring cup and add enough water to make about 4 cups.
• In a 9x13 baking dish (I use a glass one), add about 1/2 to 1/3 cup of sauce and spread the sauce out.
• Lay three noodles over the sauce and make sure they don't touch each other or the sides of the baking dish.
• Spread evenly 1/3 cup of the roasted vegetables on top of each of the lasagna noodles you just laid down.
• Take 2/3 cup of sauce and pour evenly over the vegetables.
• Pour 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese over the sauce.
• Repeat steps 8-11 twice.
• For the final layer, lay three noodles on the top and spread evenly the remaining (approximately) 1 cup of sauce over the noodles. Be sure to cover the noodles entirely. Then pour 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and move your oven rack to the middle position.
• Cover the 9x13 baking dish with foil that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
• Bake for 25 minutes. Then, remove foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes until the cheese is "spotty" brown.
• Allow the lasagna to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Notes

Slightly modified from Cook's Illustrated.

I hope you try this dish because it's completely worth it! Do you have a favorite lasagna recipe? Which one's your favorite? I would love for you to share with me links. Thanks!

The post Roasted Zucchini and Eggplant Lasagna appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

My sister has asked for vegetarian options on my blog and here's another one. I wanted to try to make this sandwich when I had it at place called the Manatee Cafe in St. Augustine. I went there over ten years ago and remembered having this really good grilled cheese-like sandwich with tofu and had to try it again when we returned last this past October.

This visit to the Manatee Cafe was rather disappointing. We were in a rush to return home and after being seated, we got our drinks but then waited at least 20 minutes before deciding to order a to go order. The thing that was really frustrating was that they didn't get that we switched to a to go order because we waited too long for them to take our order. I had to get food because I was really hungry, I ate it in the car. It's too bad the service wasn't that great because my sandwich was amazing!

After having this tasty sandwich at this cafe, I wanted to try it at home. The other night, my husband suggested we have grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. I remembered this sandwich and decided to try it. So I tried a variation of it and it turned out great. You can make this sandwich vegan by using a cheese substitute. If you do try it that way, please let me know how it goes!

I grew up eating tofu as a kid and I love it. My Mom cooked it all of the time and I will have to share with you soon one of my favorites. If you have never had tofu, I hope you'll try this sandwich. I will definitely be making this sandwich again soon!

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Cheese, Tomato & Tofu Sandwich with Avocados

Ingredients

• 4 slices of your favorite sandwich bread
• 2 slices of sharp cheddar cheese or sliced cheese substitute
• alfalfa sprouts
• 4-5 slices of tomato
• 4-6 slices of a ripe avocado
• firm tofu sliced 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick slices, about 6-7 slices
• vegetable oil
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

• Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to make the dressing.
• Heat a cast iron skillet on high for about 5-6 minutes. Add about 1/2 to 1 tsp of vegetable oil.
• Pat the tofu dry between paper towels and add to the heated skillet.
• Heat on high for a few minutes on each side, browned to your liking and heated through.
• Toast the slices of bread and arrange your sandwich. Drizzle dressing over the avocado and sprouts on your sandwich.

If you like tofu and avocados, you'll definitely love this sandwich! It's light and fresh and very tasty!

The post Cheese, Tomato & Tofu Sandwich with Avocados appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I have made the move over to WordPress from RapidWeaver. I had to manually copy and paste the old posts over and the comments will be moved over soon as well. I like it much better, WordPress is free and touts a 5 minute install process and literally is. Just in case you're wondering, it is not hosted on WordPress.com but hosted through KismetWebHost. I hope you like the new site. Let me know in the comments what you would like to see on the site and if you have any suggestions for the new site as far as recipes and layout. I hope it's easier to navigate and find things. Thank you very much and I'm excited about using WordPress!

Before we get to the recipe, I wanted to tell you about a giveaway from one of my favorite bloggers, Susan. She is giving away two KitchenAid mixers, one to a winner and one to their friend. So if you want to try to win a KitchenAid mixer, go on over to She's Becoming DoughMessTic and enter the giveaway and say I sent you! You have to leave a comment and please say I sent you, use my twitter username @juliebakes. You must follow her on facebook or twitter to win. Be sure to read her instructions carefully, if your name is drawn, she will check the entry out. We can win a pair of KitchenAid mixers together! Thanks!

Okay, now the recipe. I love this recipe because it's tasty and quick! The herbs and tomatoes and the saltiness of the parm cheese make it very rich even though it's very easy to make. I have made it a bunch of times and I like it to have more of a broth than the original instructions call for. It goes really well with salad and bread for a lighter dinner and comforting enough to have when it's cold.

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Pasta Fazul

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 carrot finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 to 1 cup of water
• 1 14.5 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 8 oz. macaroni
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• In a large skillet, saute garlic, onion, carrot, parsley, basil and oregano in olive oil until onions are tender.
• Add the tomatoes plus juices and the salt and pepper to taste. Cover and stir frequently, simmering for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. After simmering for a couple of minutes, I usually add 1/2 to 1/3 cup of water.
• Add the cannellini beans and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes.
• During any of the above steps, cook macaroni according to package directions, drain and toss with butter and Parmesan cheese. Add to tomato and cannellini beans. Serve immediately with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Notes

Modified from allrecipes.com

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