Pre-made vs. Homemade - Lasagna

Frozen lasagna is one of many memories from my childhood dinners, usually when my mom was away and dad had to cook. Although frozen lasagna is easy and just needs to be thrown in the oven for about an hour, it is not all that difficult to make yourself and it is definitely worth it! If we are to look at Stouffer's frozen vegetable lasagna we can see that it is full of chemicals as well as 28% sodium and 29% fat.

                            VS.

Vegetable Lasagna

Tomato sauce - see below for recipe (if you want to cut corners use a jarred sauce)

9 lasagna noodles

1 Pack of dry pressed cottage cheese

1 (size) brick of mozzarella

portabella mushrooms, sliced

about 2 tbsp sherry

italian eggplant, sliced

baby spinach

Once you have your sauce ready, start off by sauteeing your mushrooms - first heat the pan, add a little oil and garlic and let it simmer for just a short amount of time. Then add the mushrooms and some sherry and stir. once the mushrooms are basically fully cooked take them off the heat and set aside. Then cook your noodles until al dente, strain and run cold water over them. Lastly shred your brick of mozzarella and set aside.

Now you are ready to start building your lasagna, start by spreading a little tomato sauce over the bottom of the pan. While you are building your lasagna, start preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Now add your layers accordingly:

noodles

sauce

eggplant

mushrooms

spinach

cottage cheese

mozzarella

Do this three times, and make sure to save some extra mozzarella for the top layer so you have a nice thick layer of cheese on top! Now throw your lasagna in the oven and let it bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is golden and melty! 

Take the lasagna out of the oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes, then cut it into big hearty pieces and serve either on its own or with a nice little salad. Enjoy!

Now, if you are feeling ambitious and want to take this lasagna to the next level try making this homemade sauce:

Badass Tomato Sauce

This sauce is an absolute favourite of my family and friends and although it may take some time it is so very worth the wait!

olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small-medium onion, diced

1 beef short rib

1 can tomato paste

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 bay leaf (if you have it)

1 tsp oregano

2 tsp basil

big splash of red wine

Start by putting a big pot on medium heat with a good coating of olive oil on the bottom. Once the pan is hot add the garlic and onions and let them cook for a minute or two - before they brown. Now add the short rib and brown it on all sides, then add the tomato paste and stir it around for 1 minute. Now add both the crushed and diced tomatoes and give it a stir. Lastly add your herbs and wine and give it another good stir. Once the sauce starts bubbling turn the heat down to low and let simmer for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Once the sauce is done, feel free to eat the beef short rib as a pre-dinner snack. Now your sauce is ready for lasagna or even just some plain old spaghetti and meatballs!

Simple But Delicious Mussel Pasta

Today my roommates and I were enjoying a relaxing Sunday and I decided to make something special for dinner. I went to Zehrs Market and it just so happened mussels were on special - $3.99 for 2 pounds! So I decided to make a simple but delicious mussel pasta. The nice thing about this dish is that the broth from the mussels is added to the pasta sauce itself to complete it adding incredible flavour. What I  like about this recipe is that it is elegant and yet rather simple to make and therefore it's impressive even though it doesn't take all that much effort on your part. One key thing to remember when cooking mussels: if the shell is not open, do NOT pry it open, just throw it away!

Creamy Mussel Pasta

Mussels:
1 lb of mussels
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tbsp of dijon mustard
1/2 a lemon, squeezed
3/4 of a bottle of wine
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 tomato, diced

Pasta:
2 small handfulls of linguine
olive oil
1 clove of garlic, chopped
2 cups of cream
mussel broth
a nice big handful of spinach

We start with the mussels. Combine everything but the mussels in a nice big pot and bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes. You may notice there is not a lot of liquid in the pot but that is how its supposed to be. After cleaning the mussels (in cold water) toss them in the pot and put the lid on. Let them steam for about 5 minutes then take the lid off and give them a little stir, then cover and let cook for another 5 minutes. Now they should be open and cooked, take them off the heat and separate the mussels from the broth.

Now you can start the pasta, put a pot of water to boil, then cook the linguine until al dente (still firm). Once you have the water on, you can start the sauce, coat the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of olive oil and put on medium heat. Add the garlic and let it cook. Turn the heat down and add the cream. Then add the peppers, shallots, and tomato from the mussel broth and then add the pasta. Mix in the pasta then slowly add the mussel broth until you have your desired flavour. Toss in the spinach just until it wilts. Now plate the pasta and fan the mussels on top, garnish with a little salt and pepper and some chopped fresh parsley if you have it. And there you go! A delicious, quick, and elegant dish!

It Doesn't 'Gotta Be KD'

My name is Anna and I am a 20 year old university student with an interest in food, and therefore an interest in cooking! Apparently today no one has time to actually make their dinner, everyone just buys something pre-made and throws it in the oven (like my brother). Everyone thinks students live off of frozen pizzas and Kraft Dinner.. while some do, they don't have to! I do the cooking for myself and two of my other room mates and we always joke that we're probably the best fed university students. Unfortunately, I don't think we were too far off in saying that. All of these pre-made dinners are now so readily available no one needs to be able to cook but what a lot of people don't know or realize is how easy it is to make these dinners themselves - without all the added salt and chemicals! For example I looooooove pasta and I make it all the time, but I refuse to use a bottled or jarred sauce because it's too easy to make my own and it's simple but delicious! So having said that, today's recipe is linguine with tomato olives and spinach


Linguine with Tomato, Olives, and Spinach

This is one of my favourite pastas which is why I chose to make it for lunch today. Its a nice light pasta and the spinach makes you feel healthy!

olive oil
a handful of linguine
1 clove of garlic, chopped
4 basil leaves, chopped
1 large tomato (or two small tomatoes). diced
4 capers, finely chopped
a handful of olives, pitted and sliced
red wine

 Start by putting some water to boil to make the linguine. While you are waiting for the water to boil prep everything for the sauce. Pour about 2-3 tbsp of olive oil into a medium hot pan. First add the garlic, once it is slightly darker add the basil, olives, and capers.

Give it a quick toss then add the tomatoes. Add a splash of red wine then leave it to simmer for about 10 minutes or until the tomatoes soften to a sauce-like consistency. Once the water is boiling add some salt and a little olive oil to keep the noodles from sticking together then throw the linguine in. Once the noodles are basically cooked, throw a big ass handful of spinach into the tomatoes. When the pasta is cooked drain it and throw it into the pan with the tomato.

Mix everything together and serve! You can opt to grate a little parmesan cheese on top or serve it with a garlic crostini but I often just eat a nice big heaping plate of pasta for lunch! Hope you like it!