Lasagne with zucchini, ricotta, and tomato sauce

I made this one all out of season, but it's a good one to have standing by when zucchini season hits in earnest. This is a great way to use your zucchini. I didn't think I'd like this lasagne very much, but it was really tasty. The nuts made a really terrific texture and flavor along with the zucchini and tomatoes. I took it to a potluck and everyone seemed to love it. As lasagnas go it was quite easy, especially since you use no-boil lasagne noodles. It does take 40 minutes to cook in the oven, but not too long to put together.

Let's Get Started

Preheat the oven to 350º. Oil a 9x12 pan, or two smaller pans. I usually use 2 smaller pans for just the two of us, and then we have a lasagna in the freezer for another night.

Make the tomato sauce. I used a 28 oz can of Muir Glen whole peeled tomatoes, and I felt that this didn't quite make enough sauce. The recipe called for fresh sauce, but it was the wrong season. Canned turned out REALLY tasty. You can use diced, crushed, or whole tomatoes.

To make tomato sauce from canned tomatoes, heat 1 T. olive oil in a skillet with 1 sliced garlic clove. When you smell the garlic, add the tomatoes with their juices and a good sized pinch of dried marjoram or oregano crushed between your fingers. (I used basil that I had dried myself. That worked well, too.) Cook over medium-high heat, smashing the tomatoes against the pan to break up the larger chunks. After 5 minutes or so (whenever it feels like it is a sauce), stir in 1 teaspoon tomato paste to deepen the flavor. Taste for salt and season with pepper.

To make tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes, put 2 1/2 pounds whole unpeeled tomatoes (plum types work best) in a heavy pan with 1 shallot or 1/2 small onion, finely diced, and 1 sliced garlic clove. Cover and cook over medium-high heat. The tomatoes will give up their juices pretty quickly, but keep an eye on them and add a smidge of water if the pan gets too dry. After about 20 minutes the tomatoes will have thoroughly broken down. Pass them through a food mill to get rid of the skins and seeds. (If you don't have a food mill then you should skin and seed the tomatoes first.) Return the pot to the stove and cook over low heat, stirring frequently until it is as thick as you want. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in 1 T. (or more) olive oil.

While the tomato sauce is cooking, stir a little salt and pepper into 1 pound ricotta cheese (preferably whole-milk ricotta.) If the ricotta is very densely textured, you can thin it with a little water.

Trim 2 1/2 pounds small zucchini, and cut in half lengthwise. Cut each half into diagonal slices as thinly as possible. Heat olive oil in a large skillet, add zucchini, and cook over medium-high, stirring frequently until it glistens and is tender - about 5 minutes.

Finely chop 1 cup of pine nuts or walnuts, or a mixture. Cut 1/2 pound fresh mozzarella into very small pieces (or grate it if you can do that without making it into a mush - I can't.) Grate 1 cup parmesan or pecorino cheese. Have no-boil lasagne noodles standing by.

You now have all the ingredients ready for your lasagna. First spread 1/2 cup of tomato sauce in the bottom of the prepared pan. Lay 3 no-boil lasagne noodles over the sauce. Cover with 1/3 of the ricotta, dot with 1/3 of the nuts, and cover with 1/3 of the zucchini. Season with salt and pepper, then cover with 1/2 cup tomato sauce, 1/4 of the mozzarella, and a sprinkling of parmesan. Add another layer of noodles and repeat the layering. Cover the final layer of pasta with the remaining tomato sauce, mozzarella and parmesan.

Tent the dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Let rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

Things I'd Do Differently Next Time - I'd like to try this with fresh tomatoes next time, especially when they are ripe at the same time as the zucchini.

Approximate Cost to Prepare

28 oz can tomato sauce - $2.00 - 4.00 OR

8 roma or plum tomatoes - $2.00 - $4.00

1 pound ricotta cheese - $4.00 for the good stuff

2 1/2 pounds small zucchini - $2.00 (free in the summer from your neighbors)

1 8-oz package no-boil lasagne - $2.00 (I didn't use the whole box, so maybe less)

1 c. finely chopped pine nuts or walnuts - pine nuts are much more expensive than walnuts, but I'm guessing $4.00 for a mixture

1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese - $2.50

1 c. freshly grated parmesan - $1.50

TOTAL for a big lasagna (6-8 people) - $19.00 (more or less depending on your ingredients)

Gnocchi with Winter Squash and Radicchio

This is very tasty, and fairly quick to make. Since Deborah Madison doesn't make her own gnocchi, I followed suit and used store-bought. I thought the radicchio might make it too bitter, but as it cooks, the bitterness disappears. The flavors are really nice and it can be ready in about 30-40 minutes.

Let's Get Started

Start with one large butternut squash. I was making this for 2 people, so I didn't use a whole squash. Cut the neck off and cut it into 2 or 3 manageable pieces. Scoop out the strings and seeds, setting them aside for a broth later on. Cut the skin off the squash and then cut into half inch cubes. (I use a vegetable peeler to peel the squash, but you can use a knife if you'd like.) Don't worry about irregular shapes.

Toss the squash with a little olive oil, some salt and pepper, and then steam over 3 cups of simmering water until tender, about 20 minutes. Reserve the water to make a sauce. Stir the seeds and strings from the butternut squash in to the water, along with some parsley stems (you'll use the parsley leaves in a minute), and some salt. Let this mixture boil until it is reduced by about half. When it is done, stir in 1 T. butter to make a nice orange sauce for the finished dish. This can be in process while you do the other steps.

Cut 1 head radicchio into wide ribbons. Heat 2 T. olive oil in a wide skillet. Add the radicchio, season with salt and cook over medium-high heat until wilted, tender, and no longer red. When the squash is done, put it in the pan with the radicchio.

In the meantime, chop a big handful of parsley leaves, 2 cloves of garlic, and about 12 sage leaves together. Add most of the herb-garlic mixture to the cooked radicchio and squash and save the rest until the very end.

Bring a pot of water to boil for the gnocchi, salt the water, and then cook the gnocchi until they are tender but not too mushy. Scoop the cooked gnocchi out of the pan and into the squash-radicchio mixture, along with a little of their cooking water. Taste for salt, season with pepper, and add the remaining herbs and garlic. Serve with a little olive oil drizzled over and some of the orange sauce on the plate.

Things I'd Do Differently Next Time: The only thing I can think of is that I might peel and cut the squash earlier in the day and have it standing by for cooking later.

Cost to Prepare:

Butternut squash (3 lbs) - $3.00

1/4 cup olive oil - $.75

1 head radicchio - $1.00

2 garlic cloves, handful of parsley - $.50

12 large sage leaves - $1.00 (or from your garden)

1 T. butter - negligible

3/4 to 1 pound gnocchi - $4.00

freshly grated parmesan and/or gorgonzola cheeses - $1.00

TOTAL for 4 people - $11.25