Skip to main content

Lasagna-moussaka hybrid

First time that I bought lasagna pasta. It was a pack from a promotional set with Bolognese sauce and a free gift.

When I checked out the recipe at the back of the box and other lasagna recipes on the Internet, the dish is too heavy for me. A lot of meat and some form of bechamel or white sauce needed, with lots of milk or ricotta.

So, I improvised the dish to be like a moussaka, using eggplant and no bechamel or white sauce. Just some cheese.

I cooked the whole bottle of Bolognese sauce, adding 2 tomatoes, some celery leaves, half a carrot and about 150g of minced chicken.

Also, softened the pasta sheets in some hot water for 1-2 minutes. To make it easier to cut the pieces for my small containers.

Promotion set.

Preparing the eggplant with some olive oil and salt.

Eggplant - after baking at 220C for about 30 minutes.

A bit of sauce, a layer of eggplant.

More sauce.

A layer of pasta, followed by more sauce. Make sure the sauce is in contact with the pasta above and below it. So that the pasta will be soft after baking.

A layer of grated Parmigiano cheese. Just for decoration, 'cross' strips of processed cheddar cheese.

Deeper containers, Two layers of eggplant, pasta and cheese. With lots of sauce.

After baking for 20mins at 220C.

What's inside?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Farfalle

Made some farfalle - I was intrigued by the prettiness of the shape. It's hard work though, all for the sake of the jagged edges. I cleaned out my old craft scissors to do the cutting. Now I realised that the commercial pasta only has jagged edges on the ends of the 'bows'. Not the other side! Well, I may not make this again. The middle of the bow is thick, as expected. So, there's more 'bite' there! But the lemon sauce with cheese, spring onions, cherry tomatoes and lemon zest - that was really refreshing. Uneven sizes and thickness but they still look pretty. Simple lemon, olive oil sauce with some cheese.

The old writers

I first noticed these words in a novel. Only the first three lines as the writer was describing a fear and restlessness but not a seeking of the divine. I looked for them later and there they were, in the Service Book in church. Part of the Evening Prayer, it may seem out of sorts for us city dwellers with lights everywhere, all the time. But, the night is still there, darkness still in us. These writers of old, they write so well. Or maybe they just knew their God better. in your mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night

Okinawan Spinach

A friend gave me a cutting of Okinawan Spinach. Yay, new vegetable to try planting. The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynura_bicolor Gynura bicolor, hongfeng cai 紅鳳菜, okinawan spinach or edible gynura, is a member of the chrysanthemum family (Asteraceae). It is native to China, Thailand, and Myanmar but grown in many other places as a vegetable and as a medicinal herb. Since most of the leaves needed to be removed for the rooting, I made a salad. This was a 'Global' Salad with Okinawan Spinach, Mexican Asparagus, Malaysian cucumber and cherry tomatoes, Argentinian blue berries and NZ salad dressing! In future, if I grow this vegetable successfully, I will stir fry it with sesame oil and ginger. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynura_bicolor   According to Chinese food grouping, Gynura bicolor is a 'cool' food, so the leaves are stir-fried with sesame oil and ginger (both 'hotter' foods) to achieve a balance. After m...