Sunday, January 10, 2010

Temp Family Dinner

My roommates and I have dinner together practically every night of the week. I love to cook and they love to eat, so any uneven distribution of house-ly work comes out in the (dish)wash! Last night, we were thrilled to have two extra friends dining at Chez Cheetah. We settled on a nice big lasagna.



This thing was so good, I obviously couldn't wait to take a picture before I ate a piece and went back for seconds. For dessert, one friend brought incredibly delicious Liz Lovely cookies, and the other a selection of yummy fruit. Turned out to be a really fun meal, book-ended by stimulating rounds of Chatroulette. (This site will apparently take over your life if you let it. I'm beginning to see that.)

Triple-Layer Lasagna

serves 8

1 package lasagna noodles
3 cups mixed vegetables, chopped
nutritional yeast (for sprinkling on top)

[Red sauce]
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 32-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
3 tablespoons red wine
1 1/2 tablespoon agave nectar
s&p (to taste)

Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until softened and fragrant. Pour in your tomatoes, then add the spices, wine and agave. Heat through, tasting along the way to adjust seasonings to your own liking.

[Cashew-Pignoli Ricotta]
1 1/2 cups raw cashews
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup soy milk
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
3 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon salt

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until fairly smooth.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Boil one package of lasagna noodles according to package directions while you steam the chopped veggies of your choice (we happened to have mushrooms, carrots and leftover beet greens on hand) for around five minutes.

In a 9x13 inch pan, layer like this: sauce, pasta, ricotta, veggies, sauce, pasta, ricotta, veggies, pasta, sauce, and finally, LOTS of nutritional yeast. Bake covered with foil for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and stick it back in the oven for another 15 minutes, until nice and g-b (golden-brown) on top.

1 comment:

  1. The yumminess is out of control!! I miss my personal chef.

    ReplyDelete