Zucchini Lasagna

This is a perfect recipe for using up all of those zucchini in  your summer garden! And no need to make a beschamel, you just mix the flour and milk into the veggies on the stove top!

2.5 cups whole milk

3 tablespoons flour

1.5 cups parmesan

1 cup cheddar cheese (white or regular or some other cheese you prefer)

salt and pepper to taste

1 box no boil lasagna noodle 

3-4 zucchini shredded

1 leek chopped

2 carrots shredded

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup white wine

Saute the veggies in olive oil and butter until soft.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Add wine and cook out alcohol for a few minutes.

Mix milk with flour and whisk.

Add to veggies and cook until thickens up a bit. Taste for more salt and pepper. Make sure it’s not too thick like regular bechamel as the dry noodles need some extra moisture.

Layers: Sauce-noodle-cheese I rotate the cheeses between layers. Continue until last layer adding sauce and a little bit of cheese to top.

Bake uncovered 35-45 minutes or until bubbly and golden brow. Cool for 15 minutes before cutting.

Peperonata (Italian Ratatouille)

 

This is the perfect Summer dish to use up and enjoy all of those delicious garden veggies! Peperonata is the less "vinegary" cousin of Caponata and a close relative to France's ratatouille. Peperonata mostly uses bell peppers as its flavor base and is jam packed with flavor, full of health and beautiful to look at making it the perfect "last hoorah" dish of the summertime!

Ingredients

1 pound red and/or yellow or even green bell peppers (red is traditional as they are the sweetest)

1/8- 1/4 cup olive oil

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes OR  calabrian paste or 1 small hot pepper red or green

2 medium tomatoes

1 zucchini

1 small eggplant 

1/2 -1 large potato

1 glass white wine

pinch of sugar

salt and pepper to taste

optional herbs: dried oregano, fresh parsley and/or basil etc..

Directions 

Cut all of the large veggies to about same size, not too small or too big, you want some toothsomeness.

Heat up oil medium low in large pot and saute onion and garlic and oregano if using along with a little salt to prevent browning until onion is translucent, don't burn garlic.

Turn up heat to medium/high and add wine and cook until you don't smell alcohol, lean over the pot and smell, you'll know.

Add in the hot pepper, bell peppers, and potatoes and more salt (layering the salt is important) cook until soft stirring here and there, about 15 minutes. Add a little water here and there if its sticking as needed.

Add the tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini season with and pepper this time and stir here & there to cook down  until ALL veggies are soft, check each one. It will take around another 20-30 minutes give or take depending on size of veggies.

Add the chopped fresh  herbs at the end and taste for salt & pepper.

Serve on bread for an antipasto, as a "sauce" for pasta or in a sandwich, this is really good with a sausage or meatball sub!

Italian Beet Salad

 

This is Italian Beet salad as best as I can remember my Mom's, Carol Ann Sasso, recipe, she used to make it for holiday meals and she used my Great grandmother’s , Filomena DeMaria Cornaccio’s, recipe. As you can tell I like to eat it on top of greens (arugula is my fav) using the juices to dress my salad and maybe some goat cheese crumbled on, yummy!! It’s also good on hearty thick wholewheat bread with goat cheese and Arugala for a delicious sandwich. 

Try to make this recipe a little ahead so that it will slightly pickle. 

My Beautiful Mommy :)

Ingredients

2 large beets roasted and peeled  (I use precooked beets from Costco but even canned will work!)

1 large onion

1 garlic clove  minced

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil (EVO) 

1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional: if you like it on the sweeter side)

salt to taste and lots of fresh ground black pepper!

Directions 

Make dressing in large glass container that you'll be storing it in (glass is better with pickling)

Slice the beets and onion very thin (I use a mandoline) 

Mix and taste for salt and pepper.

This will keep in the fridge for a good week or two and only get better!

Zucchini Lasagna (Lasagna Con Zucchini)

    

Zuccchini lasagna......the name evokes such wholesomeness and virtue but honestly that couldn't be further from the truth! This rich creamy layered pasta dish is absolutely divine. And the fact that it has such versatility, with this one basic recipe you can literally make dozens of vegetable/lasagna creations, will soon have you adding this recipe to your own repertoire. With a nice size salad and a loaf of Italian bread this will easily feed 10, so invite some friends over and share the calories, I am strong believer in the theory that sharing meals is the best kind of diet!

Ingredients
1 pound lasagna sheets (boil ahead or use oven ready!)
olive oil for frying

butter for pan (2 tablespoons) 
2 cups Balsamella (Beschamel/white sauce)
1 cup Parmigiana or 3/4 Parmigiano and 1/4 Pecorino Romano (Set aside 1/4 cup for topping)

1 cup shredded mozzarella (Plus 1/4 cup set aside for topping) 

16 ounces ricotta

1 sprig of fresh Thyme or 1 teaspoon dried or other aromatic herb if you have it

You will need 3 plates with flour in one, eggs beaten in one and bread crumbs in one:

4 zucchini: slice thin-ish, dip in flour, then beaten egg and then breadcrumbs and fry in olive oil then salt as soon as they are done placing them on paper towels to drain.

Directions
Preheat oven to 350
Boil pasta if not using oven ready

Fry zucchini

make basamella (Beshamel/white sauce) adding about 1 tablespoon thyme and salt and pepper to taste

Mix parmesan with ricotta (set aside 1/4 cup for topping)

Place butter in pan and melt in the oven then add enough olive oil to coat and dust with bread crumbs

Now layer; lasgana sheets/ricotta mixture, mozzarella and zucchini. Then repeat. Top with more sheets and pour the white sauce all over (get corners) topping with the reserved parmesan , mozzarella and bread crumbs.

Bake covered 20 minutes. Then uncovered 20 more minutes. 

Baked Ziti w/ Marinara (Ziti Al Forno)

Nothing says celebration to a southern Italian family more than baked pasta, and why not? It can feed a multitude and frees the cook up to enjoy her guests! Every celebration we had growing up: baby christening, first communion, confirmation, showers, holidays...had some kind of baked pasta dish. This recipe is a Neapolitan style baked pasta and is also known as Ziti Alforno or ziti cooked in the oven. My actual family recipe has no actual amounts because there really is no set amount for each ingredient as you just add as much as you like so if you are a sauce family more sauce is added etc....My only real tip for this is to make sure and add enough sauce or else you’ll have a dry casserole.

Ingredients
6 cups of Marinara Sauce (make a big pot a day ahead )

 8-10  ounces  Mozzarella

 Basil leaves  cut in to pieces *Italian housewife trick: Don't wash them off but rub with a dry towel, this keeps them nice and green.
1 pound Pasta: ziti, rigatoni, penne...Something with holes to hold the sauce and whistle a tune!
1- 1&1/2 cup Grated Cheese: Pecorino OR Parmesan Or a combo of the two

12 ounces whole milk ricotta (1 1/2 cups)

 OPTIONAL ADD IN EGGS: 2 hardboiled eggs peeled and sliced, My Zia Adele used these which is typically Neapolitan 

Also you can add 1 raw egg to the ricotta cheese for more of a casserole style dish or leave out if you want a looser consistency.
1/2 cup Bread Crumbs Plain for topping.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Equipment: 1 large lasagna or casserole dish. If I am making this for a crowd I buy the big aluminum ones from the dollar store and throw them away when finished.
Directions
Set oven to 500.
Boil the pasta until al dente (slightly undercooked) and drain reserving a 1/8-1/4 cup of pasta water.. Add the sauce and stir to coat, adding just enough pasta water to moisten and the starch will help it to set.
Spread some sauce on the bottom of the pan. Reserve a little cheese and bread crumbs for topping.

Mix all the ingredients together. 

Now finish off with a dusting of bread crumbs and reserved cheeses and drizzles of olive oil all over.

You only bake this for 12-16 minutes checking often because it is such a high heat. Remove and allow to cool off a bit, at least 10 minutes before cutting into it.
OR you can cover it before baking and place in your fridge for over night and cook just before serving since it is so quick to cook, only about 15 minutes. But bring back to room temp before baking or else the inside will still be cool.
Buon Appetito!