Cheesy Pesto Lasagna

I made a totally lazy version of lasagna using prepared tomato sauce and fresh lasagna sheets and it turned out quite well. Here is what made it a step above Costco's frozen lasagna (which isn't half bad). I mixed some of my homemade pesto in with the ricotta cheese and it really gave it a great basil/garlic taste. I also used some Paul Newman's Marinara Sauce and it too was fairly tasty. Putting together the whole thing couldn't have been easier.

This size lasagna would easily serve a family of four as opposed to how I usually make my lasagnas; big enough to feed a small army. Sometimes I forget that I am only cooking for two and I overdo it on size. Leftovers are great but not for 5 days in a row!

Cheesy Pesto Lasagna

4 sheets of fresh lasagna sheets

1 16 oz jar of marinara sauce

1 cup of pesto

1 1/2 cups of ricotta

1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups of grated mozzarella cheese

Grease an 8 inch square baking pan. Mix ricotta cheese and pesto together until blended. Pour enough marinara sauce over the bottom of pan to cover. Place lasagna sheet over sauce. Cover sheet with ricotta/pesto mixture, dollop marina sauce over ricotta then sprinkle with both mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Continue layering in this manner ending with pasta covered with marinara sauce and mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes. Remove foil and place under broiler until cheeses are brown and bubbly. Watch carefully as cheeses can burn quickly. Let sit for 15 minutes before cutting to ensure everything holds together nicely.

Dos Salsas Verde

I'm currently learning Spanish via Rosetta Stone at work so I want to use it whenever possible, thus the title. Actually my two green sauces really have more to do with a discussion regarding my food processor. As pictured above it is obvious that this isn't one of your new fangled state of the art food processors.

Nope. This beast is at least 30 years old. I know this because my older sister received it for a wedding present, and if my memory serves me correctly, she was married in 1976. Sometime probably around 1980 she very graciously gave me her Hamilton Beach food processor as she had moved up in the world and bought herself a brand spanking new Cuisinart. Now mind you, beggars can't be choosers and I was tickled pink to have such a food wizard in my tiny Cassel Crag Apt. kitchen. I have been using it ever since, minus the grater attachment which I busted up real good once while trying to grate a particularly hard piece of Parmesan.

I have been recently thinking that I might owe myself a new food processor but after I used this steadfast kitchen workhorse this weekend for three different things, I have decided it still has many more productive spins left in it! I just have to continue grating cheese by hand (which I don't really mind).

This weekend I made blueberry scones and used my processor to do the tedious task of cutting the flour and butter together. I also made these two sauces: Pesto, which I mixed into nice, thin angel hair pasta for Saturday night dinner and Chimichurri, a sauce from Argentina which is used to accent grilled meats. We will dollop it on top of our grilled T-bone steaks for Sunday dinner.

Pesto

2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves

1-2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp. pine nuts (I used local walnuts I get from a co-worker and keep in the freezer)

1/4 cup olive oil

2 generous Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Put the cloves of garlic into the bowl of processor with steel blade attachment and run until garlic is minced. Add basil leaves and nuts and pulse until very finely chopped. Scrape down bowl. Run machine while slowly pouring olive oil through feed tube. Stop and scrape down bowl thoroughly a couple of times. By hand, fold in Parmesan cheese and seasonings to taste. Use immediately or refrigerate with plastic wrap over surface of sauce for 1-2 days or freeze.

Chimichurri Sauce
2 large garlic cloves
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1 cup lightly packed fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
With food processor fitted with steel blade, combine garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt and sugar and process until garlic is minced. Add the parsley and lemon juice and pulse until parsley is finely chopped. With machine running, pour the olive oil through the feed tube and process until the sauce is well blended. Serve as an accompaniment to grilled meats or seafood.