I love this recipe by Giada DeLaurentiis. It’s slightly more dressed up than your average lasagna, but at the same time, delicious, family-friendly comfort food. Two sauces make it extra special, and a little bit of spinach in the filling is a great way to get your punks to painlessly channel their inner Popeye!

As if you need another reason to make this dish, these pretty rolls freeze beautifully and would be a fabulous main course to have on hand for when things start to go really crazy in the next few weeks. I would not hesitate to serve them to company; in fact, I’m going to make another pan today to have in the freezer for when my parents come – my dad will love it!

A few notes: don’t be afraid of the béchamel sauce. If you’ve never made one before, it’s really quite simple and not too terribly time consuming. Besides, you stand a very good chance of impressing yourself and others when you tell them that you made a béchamel from scratch! Go, you!

Also, Giada has a terrific recipe for a simple marinara that is supposed to be the second sauce in this dish. I saved time yesterday by using a jarred sauce (the lovely Gia Russa sauce that’s on special). Choose your favorite, or go to foodnetwork.com for Giada’s “Quick Marinara”.

Mangia!

LASAGNA ROLLS WITH TWO SAUCES

Serves: 6

Source: Giada’s Family Dinners, by Giada De Laurentiis. Pp. 98-99

Béchamel Sauce:

• 2 T. butter (Alcam brand is on sale)
• 4 t. flour
• 1 ¼ c. whole milk
• ¼ t. salt
• 1/8 t. ground black pepper
• Pinch ground nutmeg

Lasagna:

• 1 – 15 oz. container whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1 – 10 oz. box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (Bird’s Eye is on sale)
• 1 c. plus 2 T. freshly grated Parmesan (and if you use the stuff in the green can we can’t be friends any more. Choosing the Sendik’s brand will improve your dish and maintain our friendship.)
• 3 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped (I left this out and didn’t miss it)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• ¾ t. salt, plus more for the pasta water
• ½ t. ground black pepper
• 12 dried lasagna noodles (Barilla Brand is on sale)
• Butter, for baking dish
• 2 c. marinara sauce (again, Gia Russo’s is on special, or choose your favorite!)
• 1 c. shredded mozzarella (Sargento Shredded cheeses are on sale)

Melt the butter in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and cook for 3 minutes, whisking continuously. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg in to the sauce. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta, spinach, 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese, prosciutto (if using), egg, ¾ teaspoons of salt, and pepper until well blended.

Bring a very large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the lasagna noodles and cook until just tender but still firm to the bite, stirring frequently to prevent the noodles from sticking together. Drain well. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.

Preheat the oven to 450. Butter a 13×9” glass baking dish. Spread the béchamel sauce over the bottom of the prepared pan.

Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface, and then spread about 3 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle. Roll the noodles up and arrange the rolls, seam sides down and not touching one another, atop the cream sauce. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta mixture. Spoon 1 cup of the marinara sauce over the lasagna rolls, then sprinkle with the mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Cover the dish tightly with foil (it’s ready to be frozen if you choose, thaw in the fridge overnight before continuing). Bake until the rolls are heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until the cheese on top is golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinara sauce in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat until hot. Transfer the sauce to a sauceboat and serve alongside.

We’ve been eating a lot more fish at our house since I started writing this blog.  It’s been good for our family, too.  Not only does fish feel much lighter than meat, it’s given me a great chance to experiment with different preparations, and my kids have decided that salmon (“yay, pink fish!”) is all right — except for No Thank-You Boy, of course … but if you’ve been following along, you know that we’ve determined there’s not much in the way of food that he enjoys these days.  Teenagers.  Let’s not talk about him please.

Let’s talk about dinner!  This meal comes together in a skinny minute; there’s minimal prep work followed by a short cook time.  The sauce of red onion, lemon juice, and capers is light and bright at the same time.  If you’re not crazy about those flavors, you could easily pass on the sauce.  Truth be told (and keepin’ it real), my husband wasn’t nuts about the sauce.  I liked it though, and thought it was a nice compliment to the fish.

You could also punt and whip up a box of rice pilaf if you weren’t feelin’ it for the risotto, but as far as risotto goes, this one is a cinch, and a perfect recipe to get the hang of the technique if you’ve never made risotto before.  Give it a try!

Enjoy your Monday, everyone!

ROASTED SALMON & ASPARAGUS WITH LEMON-CAPER SAUCE

Serves:  4

Source:  epicurious.com

• 2 T. fresh lemon juice
• 2 T. minced red onion
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 T. capers, chopped
• pinch dried thyme
• ½ t. grated lemon zest

• 1 ½ lb. skinless salmon fillet (on sale)
• 1 lb. asparagus (also on sale)
• 1 T. olive oil

Preheat oven to 450.  Whisk first six ingredients in a small bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Cut three ½” deep slits crosswise in top of salmon (as if dividing into 4 equal pieces but don’t cut all the way through).  Arrange asparagus in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet.  Drizzle with oil and turn to coat.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place salmon atop asparagus; sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast until salmon is just opaque in center, about 20 minutes.

Transfer asparagus and salmon to platter.  Spoon sauce over salmon.  Cut into 4 pieces along slits and serve.

RISOTTO WITH PARMESAN

Serves: 6 as a side dish

Source:  epicurious.com

• 5 c. chicken broth
• 4 T. butter (I cut this to 2 T. with no trouble)
• 1 ½ c. finely chopped onion
• 1 ½ c. Arborio rice
• 1 c. grated Parmesan (if you opt for the green can, I’m afraid we can’t be friends anymore.)
• 2 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley
• Shaved Parmesan cheese (on sale)

Bring broth to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Reduce heat to low; cover saucepan.

Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium low heat.  Add onion, sauté until very tender but not brown, about 15 minutes.  Increase heat to medium.  Add rice and stir 1 minute.  Add 1 ½ cups of broth.  Boil gently until broth is absorbed, stirring frequently.  Add another cup of broth; stir until broth is absorbed.  Add remaining 2 ½ cups of broth, ½ cup at a time, patiently allowing broth to be absorbed before adding more and stirring frequently until rice is tender and mixture is creamy, about 25 minutes.  Patience, people.  Stir in 1 cup of grated cheese.  Season with salt and pepper.  Transfer to serving bowl, garnish with parsley and shaved Parmesan.

When I made this dish for the first time back in June, I have to admit that I had low expectations.  I wasn’t quite sure how blending up a bunch of grape tomatoes with toasted almonds could ever turn in to one of my favorite pasta dishes of all time, but it did.  Wow, did it ever.  In fact, immediately after the dishes were washed and the kitchen was put back in order, I sat down at my computer and fired off the recipe (along with a glowing review) to a handful of the foodies in my life.  Several days later I heard back from them with comments that ranged from “delicious and amazing” to “heavenly and life changing!”.  Yes, one friend even said it changed her life.  I trust these girls – if they tried a recipe and hated it, they would absolutely tell me to go jump in the lake.

The point is, you simply cannot go wrong with this recipe.

I’ve served it as a main dish with sliced grilled chicken on top, or as a vegetarian meal with a simple green salad.  I’ve doubled it with no trouble and frozen some for a rainy day.  Now, please go to the Store immediately and gather the minimal ingredients required for this dish!  You will not be sorry!

Have a great Wednesday, everyone!

PASTA WITH TOMATO & ALMOND PESTO (PESTO ALLA TRAPANESE)

Serves 4-6

Source:  Cooks Illustrated Magazine, June/July 2009

• ¼ c. slivered almonds
• 12 oz. grape tomatoes (about 2 ½ cups), on sale this week
• ½ c. packed fresh basil leaves
• 1 medium garlic clove, minced finely or pressed
• 1 small pepperoncini (hot peppers in vinegar), stemmed, seeded, and minced (find these by the olives, capers, and roasted peppers at the Store)
• Salt
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 1/3 c. good quality olive oil – repeat, good quality olive oil, thank you.
• 1 lb. pasta
• 1 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated, plus extra for serving – again, use a good quality Parm’ and kindly do not resort to the green-canned variety, let’s maintain some standards here if you please.

Toast the almonds in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until pale golden and fragrant, 2-4 minutes.  Cool almonds to room temperature.

Process cooled almonds, tomatoes, basil, garlic, pepperoncini, 1 t. salt, and red pepper flakes in a food processor until smooth, about 1 minute.  Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula.  With machine running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil, about 30 seconds.  Adjust seasonings.

In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to boil.  Add the pasta and 1 T. salt and cook according to directions on package.  Reserve ½ c. cooking water; drain pasta and transfer back to cooking pot.

Add pesto and ½ c. Parmesan to cooked pasta, adjusting consistency with the reserved pasta water so that the pesto coats the pasta.  Serve in shallow bowls, passing additional Parmesan at the table.