So I ordered a bunch of groceries in bulk from Cheetah, a wholesale shop for restaurants that recently opened their virtual doors to ordinary citizens. I like using half and half to make the occasional hot chocolate or decaffeinated chai. Honestly, though, I didn’t need an entire half gallon. So I drank what I could, and used six cups of half and half to make Smitten Kitchen’s homemade ricotta recipe. This produced about 4 cups of ricotta or so, I think. If I could eat more carbs at a sitting, I’d have saved the remaining whey to make oatmeal, or something, which you can certainly do.
My celery is still in its toddler stage, so I couldn’t use any for the sauce. But I did have a beautiful massive bulb of fennel, most of which I pickled, except for a celery stalk’s worth, which I chopped and added as a fragrant base for the sauce. Mushrooms add a meaty texture, although your seven year old will likely scrape most of the sauce off the top of his slice of lasagne. I didn’t bother hiding any chard in the ricotta this time.
I generally use no-cook lasagne noodles, and a medium baking dish that holds three lasagne noodles placed horizontally across the length of the baking dish. So more the size of a brownie pan than a lasagne dish.
It’s a pretty simple dish, and not terribly time-consuming, particularly if you have ricotta on hand. Makes enough for a couple of dinners, and lunches too. Tinker with it. Enjoy.
This recipe is one of a series promoting the Greatest Tomatoes From Europe. I’m taking part in this campaign because I genuinely love canned San Marzano tomatoes from Naples, and their versatility. They’re full of flavor and aroma, and perfect for cooking Mediterranean recipes, and much more.
quarantine vegetarian lasagne
- olive oil
- 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery, or about the same size of fennel, chopped
- 4 oz mushrooms
- 28 oz peeled European canned tomatoes
- 2 sprigs thyme, or lemon thyme, or other herb
- wine
- lemon juice
- 2 oz parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated or pulverized, plus more for sauce
- 4 cups ricotta cheese
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella, any kind
- salt and pepper to taste
- Cover the bottom of a large pan with olive oil, and place on medium-low heat.
- When hot, add the onions, carrots, and fennel or celery, and sauté.
- Rinse the mushrooms and finely chop them. Add them to the vegetables in the pan.
- When the vegetables have softened and begin to change color, add the can of tomatoes, mashing the tomatoes with a wooden spoon.
- Add in the sprigs of lemon thyme, or other herb, and let simmer, stirring on occasion.
- When the sauce has condensed somewhat, and looks nearly ready, grate in some parmigiano cheese, and season to taste with salt and pepper. (This is in addition to the 2 oz.)
- Pour in a splash of wine and cook the sauce for a few more minutes. Taste. If the sauce is too sweet, add lemon juice. If it’s too acidic, add a pinch of sugar.
- Take the sauce off the flame when it tastes done. Remove the herb sprigs.
- Ladle half the sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Place three sheets of lasagna noodles on the sauce.
- Mix the ricotta in a large bowl with half the 2 oz of parmigiano cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Spoon half the ricotta mixture on the first layer of pasta.
- Rip apart the mozzarella ball and distribute half of it evenly on the ricotta mixture.
- Put 3 lasagna noodles on the mozzarella ricotta mixture. Spoon the remaining half of the ricotta mixture on the pasta, then cover with three more sheets of lasagna.
- Pour the remaining sauce on the top layer of pasta, then sprinkle the remaining ounce of parmigiano on top. Dot the sauce with the remaining bits of mozzarella.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 375 for 45 minutes, covered for 30 minutes, uncovered for 15.
