Roasted Veg Lasagna

Here's a winner for you. This recipe is from Jeanne, my mother in law who is an amazing cook. She made this for me at the farm and we took the leftovers home, which was a really nice treat the next day. 

We decided a chauffeured wine tour was in order to celebrate my 26th. Having been on many wine tours before (umm, we live in Adelaide which has at least 5 world-renowned wine regions within an hour's drive - I've died and gone to heaven) I knew that...well, I might not be the best hostess upon our return.  And since everyone comes over to drink the bottles we bought throughout the day (totally unnecessary) I needed to have something to serve. But, being me, I couldn't order pizza for all. So I spent the night before roasting vegetables like it was my job and put them all together for this fantastic dish that went amazing with a homemade caesar salad (using this recipe for dressing) and bottle of Adelaide Hills shiraz. 

Sorry I don't have the token served up picture, I guess I just wasn't thinking about that when it was served ;)

Roasted Veg Lasagna - you'll never go back to meat

3/4 pound medium fresh mushrooms, cut into 1/4 inch slices

4 zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices

2 red pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks3 tablespoons olive oil

1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg

1 jar pasta sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

15 no-boil lasagna noodles

2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1.  Brush veggies with olive oil and roast in oven heated at 350. (15 minutes, flip over, 15 more minutes, remove mushrooms and roast zucchini and peppers for 5-10 mins more)
2. Prepare your cheese mix- combine ricotta, parmesan, egg
3. Prepare your tomato sauce – mix jar of sauce with diced tomatoes including liquid
4.  Put a ¼ cup sauce in pan
5. Layer – 5 noodles, half ricotta mix, ½ veggies, 1/3 of sauce, 1/3 of mozza
6.  Layer once more
7.  Top with 5 noodles, rest of sauce and rest of cheese
8. Bake covered at 350 for roughly 45 mins, uncover and bake for 10 mins longer (brown top and bubbly sides)

Serve and prepare to take your praise!

Sarah's Chicken Puttanesca

Puttanesca. Generally meaning a spicy dish of tomatoes, onions, capers, olives and anchovies, and usually served on pasta. Those of you that know me might know now why I added the qualifier “Sarah’s” in the title. There’s no way I am using anchovies in anything. (I don’t care how you feel about that, Dad.)

We had this lovely dish for dinner last night with an Australian Shiraz. It was fantastic yet again. We have this one every once in awhile as it is one of Nathan’s favourites.

When I thought about the blog entry for this dish, I decided to use my handy Food Lover’s Companion, which I’ve mentioned before. Much to my dismay, the definition of Puttanesca in this book was rather off-putting and I didn’t find it appropriate for my blog at all. Let’s just say, it comes from the Italian word Puttana which means, um… a… lady of leisure, if you will. It goes even further about why it is named after that, but that’s where I am stopping. And, let’s just say, the amendment I make to this dish (mentioned above) eliminates the comparison completely…

Anyway, here goes.

1 tbsp olive oil

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 medium onion cut into 1 cm rings

12 garlic cloves split lengthwise

1 35 oz can of whole plum tomatoes

½ cup sliced black olives

½ cup sliced green olives (with pimentos)

2 tbsp baby capers

¼ cup sundried tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 tbsp dried basil

1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 pinches red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

1.     Heat oil in large frying pan over medium high heat. Brown chicken on both sides, about 4 minutes each. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2.     Lower the heat to medium low and add onion and garlic to the same pan. Toss until softened, but careful not to burn, about 8 minutes.

3.     Stir in the tomatoes, followed by the remaining ingredients. Add the chicken back to the pan and coat well with sauce. Cover and simmer until sauce is thickened and chicken tender, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve on pasta and prepare to take your praise!