Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna

As you are well aware, lasagna has a few components. It’s a very complicated dish, dear reader. A lot of ins, a lot of outs, a lot of what-have-yous. A lot of strands to keep in one’s head. Not really. It’s just a lot of layers. Pasta, tomato sauce, ricotta mixture, cheese and whatever other fillings – in this case it’s reconstituted dried mushrooms and steamed, chopped spinach.

In an effort to skip a step, I use no-boil lasagna noodles. These fellas are much thinner than your usual lasagna noodle, and often times they come without that fancy-pants ruffle, which is fine by me. Who needs a high maintenance lasagna noodle? Instead, no-boil lasagna noodles have ridges, like a potato chip or corrugated steel. Do you see corrugated steel asking for its own pot of boiling water? No, dear reader. You do not.

In the end, this lasagna is relatively low on fat and high on vegetation. Hits the spot for when you absolutely need a vegetable dish and a salad isn’t going to cut the mustard. Hearty, warm and unctuous without the heaviness of beef and Bechemel sauce (which are great, but sometimes you want lean).

Just FYI, BTW, Yankee Cook’s been kicking it into high gear these past two weeks while I’m on vacation (3 posts in two weeks! yay!) in an effort to make up for that long stretch from August to December when I didn’t post a thing. That was a sad, sad time. I’ve missed you! Expect to see more slow cooker recipes coming up. I have a lemon chicken soup in the works. Hopefully that will be up next week so check back.

Update on the Lemon Chicken Soup (1/18/2012): Two attempts now. I’m going to have to wait a while more to post that one because there’s only so much Lemon Chicken Soup one can attempt in a month.

Mushroom Spinach Lasagna – serves 6
1 cup fresh water (to steam the spinach)
1 lb baby spinach
2 cups dried mushrooms – chanterelles, shiitake, porcini and trumpets are nice
2 cups boiling water (to rehydrate the mushrooms)
2 lb part-skim ricotta (the big tub)
1/2 cup  grated Parmesan cheese
salt to taste
2 eggs
1 T capers (optional)
12 sheets of no-boil lasagna noodles (or 6 sheets 3 on each layer in a smaller pan)
4 cups of your favorite tomato sauce (like the one on this page)
1/2 lb fresh mozzarella, diced
spray canola oil

1.) Bring the 1 cup of water to a boil in a large stockpot. Add the spinach in a steamer basket if you have one. Cover and allow to steam 10-12 minutes until the spinach is thoroughly embarrassed. Remove the spinach from heat and allow to cool. Once cooled, press out the excess liquid and finely chop.

2.) Meanwhile, place mushrooms in a heatproof bowl (one that won’t melt for give off BPAs if it gets hot). Pour the 2 cups of boiling water over the mushrooms and allow them to soak for 15 minutes. Drain the mushrooms and dice.

3.) Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

4.) Combine the ricotta and Parmesan cheese. Salt to taste. Add eggs and mix until smooth. Stir in capers, if desired.

5.) Dice the mozzarella.

6.) Make a layer of half of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a 13×9 inch lasagna dish. Arrange 4 lasagna sheets on top. They’ll be a little short, but it’s okay. They’ll expand as they absorb moisture.

7.) Spread a layer of half of the ricotta over the lasagna sheets, then all of the spinach

8.) Top the spinach layer with more 4 more lasagna sheets, the rest of the ricotta, the mushrooms and the last 4 sheets.

9.) Top with the rest of the tomato sauce and the diced mozzarella.

10.) Spray a sheet of aluminum foil the size of the lasagna pan with spray canola oil. This way it doesn’t stick to the cheese . Be sure to not spray where the handles are or it might slip out of your hand when you take it out of the oven and get all over the floor, ruin your outfit and possibly burn and that would just be tragic).

11.) Loosely cover the lasagna with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, remove the foil and allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Fried Stuffed Pumpkin Blossoms

We are former city-folk and this was the first blessed summer that I’ve had the opportunity to grow a vegetable garden since growing up in the ‘burbs (I don’t count the tomato plants I had on my fire escape in college). I was so eager to get started that I planted the seeds in little peat pots in early April and coddled them along on our porch.

Unfortunately, seeds will not grow on enthusiasm alone (I actually sang to them). I had no idea that they would need way more warmth and sun than our porch could offer. This spring was extremely cool, gray and damp. It took about a month for all of the seeds to sprout, and once they did they were stunted by another cool spell in May.

It is now mid-August. The pepper plants are about 8 inches tall and sport just leaves. The thyme, basil and rainbow chard are passable. There are a few teeny little green San Marzano tomatoes, and we have a boatload of pumpkin blossoms. That’s my harvest. Happy flipping new year.

One might be thinking, “Yay! Lots of punkins!”, but here’s the thing: our veggie patch is not very big and the pumpkin plants are threatening to take over (they left a note in our mudroom stating as much, signed “Audrey II”). I’m clearly no gardening expert, but I’m thinking I should probably go ahead and cut the pumpkin back a bit if we don’t want a bumper crop of small decorative gourds.

Which brings me to Fried Stuffed Pumpkin Blossoms. It would be a shame to let all of those lovely blossoms end up in the compost. This recipe will work just as well with squash blossoms, which are readily available at farmers markets, farmstands and sometimes gourmet shops this time of year.

Pumpkin blossoms are delicate in both flavor and texture, frying gives them an almost flaky texture. Pecorino Romano adds a salty cheesiness, and fresh basil and thyme bring a grassy tang.

Note: this is a messy project. The blossoms will probably not seal like tupperware. I recommend just going with it and trying to not get frustrated if some of the cheesy goodness melts out. I promise it will all taste fantastic in the end.

Fried Stuffed Pumpkin Blossoms – serves 2 – 4

1/4 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese
2/3 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
2 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped
1 large egg
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
10 – 12 pumpkin blossoms
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup olive oil
Edible flowers like marigold for garnish (optional)

Combine the ricotta, Romano and herbs in a medium bowl

Separate the egg, allowing the white to fall into a shallow bowl. Add the yolk to the ricotta mixture. Stir to combine.

Add water to the egg white and lightly beat to combine.

In another shallow bowl, combine the flour, bread crumbs and seasonings.

Gently stuff each blossom with one to two tablespoons of the ricotta mixture, depending on the size of the blossom. Twist the tops to close.

Dip each stuffed blossom into the egg white mixture, drain, and dredge in flour mixture. Set aside on a rack to rest for 10 minutes.

Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium high until the butter begins to bubble. Gently place the stuffed pumpkin blossoms into the oil. Cook 3 or 4 at a time for 2- 3 minutes per side.

Carefully remove from the pan and plate with other lovely edible flowers.

Flounder Meuniere

Sole and flounder are similar in that they’re both flatfish and they share similar tastes and textures. They are both also difficult to fillet without a good sharp knife. We got five yellowtail flounder from our fish share last week. We’ve gotten flounder a few times from the share and often I’ve not done the best job of filleting. This time however, I got it. Yay. One of the great things about joining a fish share like Cape Ann Fresh Catch, besides getting a generous amount of fish every week, is that multiple fish mean plenty of practice filleting and trying new recipes.

This dish is based on Sole Meuniere. Flounder is so delicate and mild, butter, lemon and parsley add just enough richness and zip without overwhelming.

Special thanks to Bunson for the knife sharpener. Best. Holiday present. Ever.

Flounder Meuniere – serves 3 – 6

3 flounder, filleted
1/2 C flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 C + 2 T butter
juice from 1 lemon
1/4 C chopped parsley

Mix the flour and salt together in a shallow bowl. Dredge the fillets through the flour mixture and allow to rest 10 minutes. This helps the flour to adhere to the fish while it cooks.

Melt the quarter cup of butter over medium heat until it foams. Place the fillets in the pan skin side up to prevent the skin from shrinking, and cook 2 minutes on either side until lightly browned.

Remove the fish from the pan. Deglaze the pan with the lemon juice, scraping up any bits left in the pan. Melt the final two tablespoons of butter in the lemon juice, combining to thicken until lightly browned. Serve with chopped parsley.

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Simplicity is a beautiful thing. I have been making this recipe for Spice Pumpkin seeds for years and they are always a big hit. Sugar pumpkins are your best bet for pies and other seasonal side dishes, so this is a good recipe for any time you crack one open, but it also works well with seeds from the larger pumpkins normally used to make jack-o-lanterns.

If you are making these on Halloween Night, they make a good alternative to snacking on Halloween candy as you wait for the trick or treaters to knock. Sugar and cinnamon bring that nice sweet, autumnal flavor, perfect to usher in the coming of November 1. As the seeds cook, they absorb the butter and the sugar melts down to form a sweet coating.

I have had far too many pieces of Halloween Candy this afternoon, and I am very much opposed to the idea of factory made sweets. But, there’s just something about the orange wrapper of a certain peanut butter cup that calls out nostalgia to me this time of year. My only beef is that this year they are way smaller than before. Leave it to corporate America…

Anyway. Happy Halloween!

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds – makes about 1.5 – 2 cups

Seeds from 1 sugar pumpkin (this is the one that’s about the size of a cantaloupe)

1 T granulated sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t ginger
1 (or 2) dash(es) garam masala
1 T melted butter

Pre-heat the oven to 250 degrees. Meanwhile, melt the butter (I like to toss it into a ramekin and melt it in the oven while it preheats, but it’s your kitchen).

Toss the seeds with sugar and spices. Pour the butter over the seeds and toss to coat.

Arrange seeds in an even layer on a cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and serve.

Ingredient origins: Pumpkin – just down the road; Butter – Maine; Sugar – Florida; Spices – near and far, probably far.

Butternut Squash and Shallot Tartlets

Who doesn’t love a little tiny pie? Tartlets take less time to bake than a full sized pie and, thanks to their petite size, they offer a smaller margin of error in bake time. Also, they’re adorable.

Butternut squash is in season and widely available in New England this time of year. Simply roasted and served with a pat of butter is divine, but three or four squashes into a season, you may be ready for a new application. Fat free and packed with vitamin A, squash deserves to be dolled up with a little pastry dough. Buttery shallots and tarragon complement the natural sweetness.

Butternut Squash and Shallot Tartlets – serves 4

3/4 C flour
1/4 t salt
1/4 cup butter, ice cold and diced
3 – 5 T ice cold water
1 1/2 C roasted and mashed butternut squash (*see instructions below)
2 T butter
1 T brown sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 shallots, sliced
1/2 t dried tarragon

Start by making the pastry dough: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Blend flour and salt in a food processor. Drop ice cold butter into the flour and blend until it resembles small crumbs. Gradually add the water and blend to form a ball. Place dough on a floured surface, lightly dust the top and roll out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out pieces the size of the tartlet pans. Line the pans with dough, pierce with a fork a few times and bake 10 minutes.

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in small skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots, lower heat and gradually cook until translucent and golden, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the squash, the rest of the butter(melted if necessary), egg and sugar.

Remove the tartlet shells from the oven and fill with the squash mixture. Top with shallots. Return the pies to the oven and bake an additional 20 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly before removing from the tart pans.

*Preparing a whole butternut squash in advance will yield about double what is needed for this recipe, depending on size. The excess can always be frozen or used as a side dish for another meal. To cook the squash, cut in half lengthwise. Place cut side up in a baking dish with a 1/4 inch of water. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes at 400 degrees. Scoop the meat out of the shell and discard the shell.