Cook: Not-so-paleo, Not-so-gluten free Lasagne

I don’t think I had cooked lasagne for at least a couple months while trying to change up my rotation by adding more Asian and South Asian and Latino dishes into the dinner menu. I’d been craving Italian American and decided to cook lasagna last night. Hubs came home with this summer harvest the other night. Rather than microwaving with salt and butter and rosemary or sautéing with garlic and chili flakes or even roasting, I grated two yellow squash and a wee zucchini with red onion (also from the garden), sprinkled with salt and then let it drain in a colander for at least 10 minutes. I then tossed it with a little flour and garlic powder and black pepper and then spooned it in 1/4 cups into sizzling canola oil until browned. Yummers.      

And this afternoon, when he came home with more yellow squash and another wee zucchini, I decided to halve, salt and season with red chili flakes before broiling for 10 minutes and then turning over and broiling the other side for another 5 minutes to drive off steam and caramelize for more depth of flavor than if I’d just sauté it.                            

A few days ago, a fellow gardener gave us New Zealand spinach, which I chopped and sautéed with minced shallot and garlic. Once cooled, I combined with ricotta and Parmesan.                                         

 

Next I made a semi-quick marinara by sautéing the rest of the shallot and almost half a head of garlic in a couple tablespoons of butter and olive oil and then snipped some oregano which I crushed and ground in my hands to separate from the branches. I also put in generous teaspoons of dried thyme and basil.                                  

While I was at it, I opened a bottle of Chardonnay to toss half a glass into the aromatics along with red pepper flakes.                                

While the marinara was simmering, I admired and then took photos of all the bouquets hubs had arranged and placed throughout our home. When I first met Patrick, I remember in his spartan condo, he had a huge bouquet of flowers made from two bunches he would buy weekly at Costco.                                                 

I do so love our vegetable garden for the dahlias, lilies, roses, and gladioli it grows too. Afterward it was time to construct the lasagna. I layered the broiled summer squash at the bottom (oops I snacked on one of the squashes) and filled in the gaps with browned Italian sausage I had removed from its casing.                                             

I had boiled some eggs earlier, and after removing the eggs, I had taken two lasagna noodles out of the package, broken them in half and then put them in the very hot water for 10 minutes before drying them in a colander. Marinara and then noodles and then marinara atop the vegetables and meat. Next layer was the ricotta and cheese mixture to which I had added parmesan for a bit of salt and sprinkles of nutmeg. I was too lazy and pressed for time to make a béchamel.                               

 

And then a layer of marinara followed by a layer of noodles followed by a layer of marinara.                                   

 

Lastly because I hadn’t used any mozzarella—tiny balls of them with generous sprinkles of grated Parmigiana Regianno and Pecorino Romano.                            

And because we hadn’t eaten lasagne since winter or early spring, our meal was wondrous on our taste buds as well as a celebration of our early summer harvest. I forgot to take a photo of the final bake, but did remember after serving.             

Seriously yummy.                        

I’ve no more New Zealand spinach, but I do have a package of spinach in the freezer, which I plan to turn into another lasagna or a macaroni bake to put in the freezer to bake when I don’t feel like cooking from scratch.