If you’re looking to make a meatless dish mushroom lasagna with white sauce is one of those hearty and comforting dishes that will hit the spot. You can use a variety of your favorite mushrooms, slice them up and saute them in some butter and olive oil with fresh herbs. For the noodles, you can use store bought lasagna noodles or venture out and make your own…which by the way is not hard at all. Wrap it all up with a nice bechamel sauce add some Parmesan cheese to it and put everything together with a few other ingredients.

Do you know what the difference is between a bechamel sauce and a mornay sauce? Its the same base but a mornay also has cheese in it, usually Gruyere and Parmesan. I didn’t know this just a few years ago. I was so excited to learn that small, what some would call unimportant, tidbit 🙂 .

For this batch of mushroom lasagna, I actually did make my lasagna noodles. To make your own batch of basic egg pasta, just mix 4 large eggs, 1/2 cup of water, 3 1/2 cups of sifted all purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt well and then either use a dough hook on your electric mixer and process for a few minutes or use your hands to knead and knead and bring it together to a point where it’s not sticking to your hands and it is smooth like a baby’s behind 🙂 . Then you let it rest for 20 minutes, covered with a towel before separating it into 4 equal parts and rolling each out into a long sheet, by hand or by your favorite pasta making concoction! Let them dry on a towel with flour sifted on it.

If you end up with extra sheets of noodles then you can cut them up into fettuccine noodles. Also, homemade noodles are so fresh that you do not have to boil them before using them.

You just need:

• 1 pound of baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
• 2 large portabella mushroom caps, cleaned and chopped
• 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 6 large fresh basil leaves, chopped (plus more for garnish)
• 3 tablespoons fresh Italian leaf parsley, chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning (plus more for layering)
• 8 packaged lasagna noodles, or 4 fresh lasagna sheets
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
• 4 cups milk (1% or greater), at room temperature
• 1 cup vegetable (or any broth of your choice)
• salt, pepper and ground nutmeg to taste
• 16 oz container ricotta cheese
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Steps:

1. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter with olive oil in pot and add mushrooms, thyme (I throw it in with the stems and then fish them out after the leaves have fallen off of them), basil, parsley, garlic.
2. Cook mushrooms until soft and most of the liquid has evaporated, then throw in the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Remove to bowl and set aside.
3. In the meantime, boil a pot a water and cook your lasagna noodles to package instructions (unless you have made fresh ones then you do not need to boil). Once cooked set aside to cool.
4. To make bechamel, add 4 tablespoons of butter to pot and melt (I just used the same pot the mushrooms were sauteed in, don’t need to clean it, has yummy mushroom juices on it 🙂 .
5. Once butter has melted add flour and stir to combine well, this now is called a roux. Let cook for a minute to cook out the raw flour taste.
6. On low heat, slowly add the 4 cups of milk into the roux as you whisk quickly, you don’t want lumps to form. If you haven’t done this before it may help if you had a second person to pour as you hold the pot with one hand and whisk with the other, because you don’t want the sauce to form lumps 🙂 .
7. When all the milk is incorporated and sauce is free of lumps, set heat to medium low and whisk occasionally until it comes to a simmer then add the cup of broth and stir well until it is incorporated. Bring back to a simmer and add about 1/4 teaspoon of grated nutmeg (optional) and pepper.
8. Turn off heat and add 1/2 cup of the grated Parmesan and combine, set aside.
9. To assemble, using a 9 by 13 inch baking dish (or pan), add about 1/2-3/4 cup of sauce to the bottom dish to cover and lay 2 lasagna noodles (or one fresh sheet that you have made and cut to fit your pan). Top with 1/3 of the mushrooms and dollop 1/3 of the ricotta cheese throughout the dish. Sprinkle with some Italian seasoning and pepper.
10. Mix mozzarella and monterey jack cheeses and sprinkle 1/4 on top of mushroom and ricotta layer then add some grated Parmesan cheese
11. Do the same layering two more times: sauce, lasagna noodles, mushrooms and ricotta with seasonings, shredded cheeses and Parmesan then repeat. Then add some sauce, the last lasagna noodles/sheet and top with the remaining bechamel sauce then the rest of the shredded cheese and grated Parmesan. Sprinkle the top with some black pepper and Italian seasoning.
12. Cover with a large piece of foil, do not let foil touch the top layer of the lasagna. If your pan doesn’t have a lot of room between the foil and the top layer then crease the foil so it doesn’t touch the top of the cheese, otherwise it will stick to the foil.
13. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, remove foil and bake 7 more minutes. Remove and let set for 10 minutes.
14. Serve with a nice green salad and some ricotta cheese bread.

Kali Orexi!

In Greece they have a lot of dishes that are called “lathara” which basically means with oil…and lots of it. Olive oil is the oil of choice, unless you are making it as a lenten dish then vegetable oil is used.

Eggplant and potatoes in tomato sauce is another one of those easy Greek dishes that has a lot of yummy and healthy olive oil. This vegetarian dish can be eaten as a side or as a meal with a side of feta and olives and some nice crusty bread to slop up those yummy juices.

You can use any type of eggplant but I love Japanese eggplant, it is sweeter. You just cut it into about 2″ by 2″ pieces. OR…this time I found some little Indian eggplants. They are so cute and perfect to just slice in half, long ways, which makes it the perfect size.

You just need:

• 14 Indian eggplants, ends cleaned and sliced in half, long ways (or two globe or 3 Japanese cut into 2″ by 2″ pieces)
• 14 mini/small gold potatoes, cleaned and peeled, if you prefer, and cut in half (or 4 to 5 regular potatoes of any type cut into 2″ by 2″ pieces)
• 1/2 cup any type of oil (canola or olive prefered) for browning potatoes and eggplants
• 1/2 cup olive oil for dish
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 4 Roma tomatoes, peeled and chopped (or 1 1/2 cup of diced canned tomatoes)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2-3 cups vegetable or chicken broth or even water (enough to barely cover ingredients)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Steps:

1. Add 1/4 cup of frying oil in pan and brown the eggplants on both sides, set aside and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Add the other 1/4 of frying oil in pan and brown the potatoes on both sides, set aside and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Heat pot with 1/2 cup of olive oil and throw in onions to saute for a few minutes, then throw in garlic and cook for one minute.
4. Add in fresh chopped tomatoes or canned and cook for a few minutes.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add in tomato paste, stir well and then the broth/water. Stir well and bring to a boil.
7. Set the potatoes and eggplants into the pot and nestle into the sauce. If you need a little more broth or water to cover, do so now. Bring back to a boil.
8. Cover pot and set heat to low and continue to cook until potatoes and eggplant are done and the sauce has reduced and gotten thicker.
9. Serve with feta cheese and olives and some yummy crusty bread.

Kali Orexi!

If you have heard the word tzatziki then you probably know by now that it’s a Greek cucumber sauce used in pita sandwiches of all sorts or as a dip with pita bread or just to top your wonderfully grilled meats! It’s basically yummy on everything.

Well, today I am planning to make a Greek style roasted pork belly with potatoes for dinner which I will then wrap up in pita bread and add tzatziki on it…BUT, I don’t have any cucumbers and won’t have time to go out and get any before dinner. What to do? Make up a sauce?

Normally, I would also add sliced onions and chopped parsley to this said pita sandwich. So I thought, I can make a sauce that incorporates those flavors, along with the garlic, lemon and olive oil that goes into my regular cucumber tzatziki sauce and make a mock tzatziki with parsley and green onions. So, I came up with this recipe 🙂 .

You will need:

• 7oz container of 2% plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup Italian leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced (green and white parts)
• 1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 juicy lemon, zested and half juiced
• 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Steps:

1. Add yogurt, parsley, green onions, garlic, and lemon zest to bowl and combine.
2. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper, or to taste. Mix well.
3. Alternately, add half of the olive oil, stir, then half of the half juiced lemon and stir and repeat.
4. Make sure it’s well combined and set in the refrigerator until ready to use. If you can let it sit at least 2 hours before using it that will make it even more flavorful. Serve on your favorite grilled meats, sandwiches or as a dip with homemade pita chips.

Kali Orexi!