I've had some terrible experiences with vegetarian/vegetable lasagnas. Most seem to include eggplant, which I find disgustingly gelatinous, or zuccini (ew). I've even had a particularily revolting lasagna where I had the unpleasant surprise that the golden crusty layer of cheese on the top was actually.......EGGS! That's right, solid layer of scrambled eggs. Zero cheese. Blech.
So, always on the lookout for a tasty lasagna recipe. I came across this one in that $12 magazine of holiday recipes. It looked delicious but I was a little skeptical. Artichokes can be hit or miss. I was concerned that the Significant Other wouldn't like it since artichokes can be a little sour to some people. Well, I have to say that this lasagna could stand up to any traditional meaty, cheesy, tomato-y affair out there. Try it for yourself and see. The ingredient list looks long but we had most of this stuff on hand:
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 garlic cloves minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) vegetable or chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon each nutmeg and pepper
1 can (14 ounces) water-packed artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained and quartered
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 jar (16) ounces roasted garlic Alfredo sauce
12 no-cook lasagna noodles (these are the kind that don't need to be boiled first)
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 cup feta cheese
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon each oregano, parsley, basil (I omitted the basil)
In a big pot cook the onions and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add broth, rosemary, nutmeg and pepper. Bring to a boil. Add artichokes spinach and mushrooms. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add Alfredo sauce.
Spread a cup of the spinach mixture on the bottom of a 13in x 9 in lasagna pan. Top with layer of lasagna noodles. Top that with 3/4 cup mozza. Repeat 3 times. Top with remaining sauce, then mozza, then with the crumbled feta cheese. Sprinkle with garlic, oregano, parsley and basil.
Cover and bake at 350 for 40mins. Remove cover and bake 15mins longer until just a little golden on top. (I had to move the pan up and turn the broiler on to get it to brown on top and watched it carefully so that it didn't burn. Let stand for 10 minutes.
It was soooo delicious that I didn't even remember to take pictures until it had been eaten and the leftovers packaged for lunches. So I did get one picture of one slice.
The lasagna having been demolished, I turned to dessert....mmmmmm. I had a Creamy Raspberry Torte planned for dessert. Unfortunately, I didn't read through the whole recipe, which says at the end of it that it has to sit for six hours or overnight. Hmmmm. Well, it will be delicous for dessert tomorrow, but what to make today?
I ended up looking for a recipe based on the ingredients in my house that I had that I wouldn't need for the torte. I came up with a Chocolate Chip Coconut Bar recipe. Which I put in a 9 inch round pan since I'd bought a few of them for the torte (since I don't have a springform pan) and because my one rectangular pan had a lasagna in it.
Also delicious, the recipe for this one is:
2 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup coconut
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Beat eggs and brown sugar until fluffy. (The website I collected this from had a comment from a reader that said that her bars turned out spongy and she disliked the texture. I use powdered egg replacer which doesn't do fluffy. I just mixed it in and mine turned out cookie like. So I recommend if you're using real eggs and you don't want the spongy texture, then maybe don't fluff the eggs.)
Add salt,baking soda,vanilla and coconut. Beat in flour. Spread into a greased 8 in pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. (I just wantonly sprinkled chips without measuring). Bake 350* for 25 minutes. (Until light golden brown and with a cookie texture at the edges). Careful not to overcook.
Proceed to demolish cookies. MMMMMMMMM......drool. We ate more than half the pan last night and the last few pieces that made it into the fridge went with the Significant Other to work today. This was sooo simple that I'm sure I'll make it over and over again.
Tomorrows post should include how the Creamy Rasberry Torte finally worked out.
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