So, every time we pass by the pasta aisle, we always have this incredible urge to buy the ingredients and make it. But being eternally pressed for time and also, since it is more of a cheesy cuisine then it being more nutritious (veggie, nah?), we somehow never made it. And then, we finally decided to give it a try. We came across this recipe on the internet, modified it a bit, and then the roommate made it one fine evening. Italian bhi, nutritious bhi :)
Italian food as I have always had it, is accompanied by garlic bread:
Crush a few cloves of garlic finely and mix it with slightly melted butter. Spread this onto the bread loaves, and let bake for ~3-4', till you see the edges turning crisp. You can top it with red chilli flakes or italian herb flakes, if you want to.
Since I don't venture too much into wines, I made up a fruit juice cocktail-of-sorts, to serve into wine glasses (yes, we do own 2 of them ;):
50% Pineapple-Orange juice
50% Guava juice
And to accompany it, I'd gotten a DVD from my lab mate, 'The Departed (2006)'. Coincidentally, one of the main leads in the movie, Billy Costigan, is played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who is half Italian.
All in all, a nice evening!
So, here is the recipe for the Lasagna with spinach and bell peppers, hope you have fun baking it someday too!
Ingredients:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb baby spinach leaves
1 large yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 large orange bell pepper, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
tomato puree
salt, to taste
ground black pepper, to taste
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
8 large fresh/cooked lasagna noodles
3 cups ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 375ºF.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil and sauté spinach for 2’.Add bell peppers and garlic. Sauté until just tender, ~ 3’. Stir in tomato sauce, salt, pepper, oregano and red pepper flakes. Simmer for 5’.Remove from heat.
Coat a baking dish with an olive oil cooking spray and set aside.
In medium bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and ¾ cup of the mozzarella cheese together.
Ladle about 1 cup of sauce in bottom of prepared baking dish. Top with one layer of lasagna noodles. Spread one third of the cottage cheese mixture over noodles. Repeat these three layers, finishing up with the sauce. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup mozzarella cheese over the top.
Cover tightly with foil. Bake for 30’. Uncover and continue to bake until cheese is browned and the lasagna is bubbly.
