Friday, February 20, 2015

Lasagna alla Norma

The today was the first Friday of Lent. Lasagna alla Norma was our first meatless meal.
I started saving recipes that I wanted to try during Lent on my pinterest page, Recipes For Lent. Tonight's recipe is from The Italian Dish blog. I did make a couple of changes to the original recipe. I used regular lasagna noodles. I used Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce and I added some roasted zucchini and homemade ricotta.


My version of Lasagna alla Norma

For the roasted eggplant and zucchini:

1 large eggplants, cut into barely one inch cubes
1 zucchini sliced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoons sea salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with Pam (cooking spray).  Place the eggplant ingredients in a large bowl and toss everything together well. Place the eggplant on the baking pan. Roast the eggplant for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from oven and set aside. Repeat this with the sliced zucchini, roasting for only 20 minutes, turning the zucchini over half way through the cooking time.

For the sauce:
2 cups canned imported Italian tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
5 tablespoons butter
Salt to taste

Put the tomatoes in a saucepan, add the butter, onion, and salt, and cook uncovered at a very slow, but steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until it is thickened to your liking and the fat floats free from the tomato. Stir from time to time, mashing up any large pieces of tomato with the back of a wooden spoon. Taste and correct for salt. Puree the sauce with an immersion blender.

For the lasagna:
1 boxes of lasagna noodles cooked according to the package
1/2 cup Homemade Ricotta
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon oregano

In a baking pan, place about ¾ cup of the sauce in the bottom of the pan and spread it out to cover the entire bottom. Place noodles in one layer, covering the whole pan. Add sauce and spread on the noodles, making sure they all are covered. Place a fourth of the eggplant on the tomato sauce, a fourth of the ricotta for one layer. Repeat three times more. For the last layer, place noodles on top and cover with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and oregano and Parmesan. Cover tightly with nonstick foil or use regular foil, spraying the underside with cooking spray. 

Bake for about 45 minutes.  Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for about 15 minutes before slicing to serve.

Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend!


1 comment:

Whats Cookin Italian Style Cuisine said...

I make this almost the same way except for adding fresh spinach too! Lovely photo~! those two babies are so adorable! have a great weekend~