Very Vegetarian Lasagna | Lasagnes végétariennes

My roommate Alexis told me that he wanted to cook for us the other night.  I said, sure, no problem, thinking that it would be nice to come home to a hot meal every once in a while.  When the hour came for dinner, I arrived at our apartment ready to feast on whatever he had in store for me.  I entered the kitchen and saw a pile of frozen spinach sitting on a plate, an oven that was not preheated and an unconcerned Alexis opening a bottle of red wine.  I glanced at the clock and read 9pm.  He told me that he wanted to wait for the spinach to defrost.  I looked around for a few more clues and when I found a box of lasagna noodles perched on the windowsill, I knew that dinner wouldn’t be before midnight (or the next day, if we waited for the spinach to defrost on its own.) But the French eat late, I told myself.  But I had been hungry since 5pm.  He informed me that we would be eating spinach, crème fraiche and sun vegetable lasagna (rough translation.) My appetite now whet, I pounced into action in order to help this roommate-chef of mine so that soon that lasagna could be in our bellies.  While there is a copious amount of crème fraiche and ricotta in this recipe, the addition of a ratatouille sort of vegetable combination makes you feel slightly reasonable.  After it was finally cooked, he took his bottle of red, and me my bottle of white, and we settled on the couch (in front of the television) in true Franco-American style.

Very Vegetarian Lasagna

What you’ll need:

• 450 gr fresh spinach
• 1 eggplant, cut in circles
• 1 zucchini, cut in circles
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 large tomatoes, cut into large chunks
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 shallot, chopped
• flat parsley
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 3 pinches oregano
• 6 leaves fresh basil
• 300 gr ricotta
• 15 cl crème fraiche
• 2 eggs
• 15 lasagna noodles (no pre-cooking necessary)
• 90 gr parmesan
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Now what?

1. Preheat the oven to 400 f.
2. Wash the spinach twice in cold water and then blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes.  Plunge them immediately in a large bowl of cold water so that they keep their green color.  Drain them and remove as much water as possible with the help of paper towel.
3. Heat the shallot in a pan with a little olive oil for about 5 minutes until they are fragrant and clear.
4. Simultaneously beat your eggs, ¾ ricotta and ¾ of the crème fraiche.  Add the shallots, spinach and the parmesan.  Salt, pepper and then put it off to the side.
5. In the meanwhile, fry eggplant circles until slightly golden in a pan.  Once finished, place on the side on plate lined with paper towel to drain excess oil.
6. Place all remaining vegetables in a pan with a little extra olive oil.  Add eggplant, 2 tbsp of parsley (fresh or dried), thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, and cover it with a lid.  Let it simmer on low heat for approximately 15 minutes.  Once it is a nice mixture with a ratatouille like texture, add cut up basil and let it cook for 5 more minutes.
7. Butter or oil a baking dish to the size of your liking (we used 26×20 cm).  Place three lasagna noodles on the bottom, followed by a layer of vegetables.  Add three more lasagna noodles and then spread (thickly) a layer of the spinach mixture.  Repeat this process until you are out of all of your ingredients or until you are out of dish space! Be sure to finish with lasagna noodles.
8. Finally, combine the remaining ricotta, crème fraiche and some parmesan cheese to get a very cheesy top layer to cover your lasagna mountain.
9. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until the lasagna begins to turn golden brown.  Serve immediately with some extra parmesan cheese, as if there just wasn’t enough already…

 

Kristin’s Honey & Pepper Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese

My sisters were recently visiting Strasbourg and a miracle occurred.  Kristin suggested that she cook us dinner.  I thought I should get my ears checked!  Because Kristin rarely takes to the kitchen in such a manner, I made sure to carefully observe every move she made while whipping up her and Michael’s “secret” creation.  Her recipe is simple but with an extra twist that makes all of the difference.  And when I am homesick, I plan on making this comfort dish in order to feel like I’m with my sisters once again getting a little “taste” of home.

The problem with my version of her recipe was that I didn’t use a strong enough cheese. I made the mistake of buying my cheese in Germany.  Why on Earth would I do such a thing when I live in France, a country where cheese flows freely and stinks strongly? Next time feel free to replace the taleggio with gouda, fontina or even munster and keep in mind that using raclette cheese is not nearly strong enough.  Though even with a mild cheese, the French roommates who generally scoff at all savory American dishes served themselves twice.

Serves 6 very hungry people or 8 French people (less hungry. All the time.) What you’ll need:

• 1 lb macaroni (shells are good, think oozy cheese macaroni)
• 2/3 lb taleggio cheese, cut into small pieces
• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup milk
• grated parmesan cheese
• honey
• salt
• black pepper

Now what?

1)   The first thing you have to do is roast your cauliflower.  To do so, mix it with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Spread out the florets on an aluminum lined baking sheet and roast in the oven at 400 f until it is crispy (20-30 minutes.)  In the meanwhile, cook your pasta in salted water according to the obvious pasta cooking directions.

2)   Next you need to make a roux.  Roux are one of my biggest enemies. In order not to “roux”in your roux (get it?), you just need to go slowly.  Melt butter in a pot on medium heat.  Add flour and whisk until the mixture thickens.  Once thickened, add the milk slowly (in several intervals) continuously whisking.  It is always easier to thin it out (by adding more milk) than to thicken it up (by adding more flour), so going slowly is very key.  Should something go wrong, you might end up ruing the day you ruined your roux.

3)   Once your roux has a nice consistent texture, dump the taleggio and parmesan into the pot and stir until you’ve got a nice, thick cheese sauce that far surpasses any velveeta box you’ve ever eaten.

4)   Combine your roasted cauliflower, cooked pasta and cheese sauce in a baking or serving dish.

5)   Many people prefer a baked macaroni and cheese and so if you’d like, now you can top it with breadcrumbs and broil in the oven until crispy.

6)   If you choose not to broil, now freely add honey and tons of black pepper to take this macaroni and cheese from comfortably familiar to comfortably amazing!

“cheesus christ this is good!”- Kristin