Honey Drizzled Lasagna

Pasticcio Bianco alla Rezdora

A few weeks ago my menu plan included some recipes from my new "Italian" Cookbook and this was one of them. I actually ended up pushing it off for more than a week due to illness in the family and finding time to make the mascarpone. You might find this odd, but I am not a huge fan of cookbooks. Rarely do I find a cookbook that I enjoy perusing. This book, however, was of the style that I enjoy - it has traditional recipes that you are not likely to find in too many other places and it is speckled with wonderful stories from the author who visited the various regions in Italy where the recipes have come from.

The Italian is translated as, Baked Pasta in the Manner of the Lady of the House. What a fun name! It kind of makes me think that I could invent or create my own pasta dish that becomes "my signature dish" to be served to guests when they visit. And although I briefly thought about making my own pasta (as called for in the recipe) I also picked up a box of "No Boil Lasagna Noodles" - I believe they were Barilla brand, the flat thin ones that most resemble homemade pasta. As I do not have a pasta maker, I opted for the store bought version this time, but when I have a bit more time on my hands I will likely try to make my own. We have made cavatelli by hand, it's Ryan's family's pasta from the region of Italy that his grandfather's family originated from and it is quite the undertaking. My mother-in-law called it a "labor of love," she has a cavatelli maker. Anyway, back to this recipe. When I served the lasagna I vaguely remembered reading something about serving it with a drizzle of honey. I thought it odd, but why not give it a try. Boy am I glad I did, it was a spectacular finish to this unique dish.

With all the different cheeses in this recipe, it can get a bit expensive. However, I found that making the mascarpone was not difficult at all. It did take a bit more time than I anticipated for my cream to reach the proper temperature, but other than that a bit of prep (say 45 minutes) can save you some money. Although the recipe calls for 2 cups of mascarpone and making it yourself will yield 12 oz, this was plenty. You could also make the ricotta, but it won't save you as much money as making the mascarpone.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays over at Kelly the Kitchen Kop's site. Check it out for more great Real Food recipes.

Creamy Honey Drizzled Walnut Lasagna

Ingredients

• 1 pound Freshly Rolled Pasta (or 1 box flat no boil lasagna noodles)
• 1 Tablespoon Sweet Butter
• 1 1/3 cup Heavy Cream
• 2 cups Mascarpone (or 2 cups heavy cream + 1 T lemon juice)
• 2 cups Ricotta
• 2 1/2 cups just-grated Parmigiano
• 1 Tablespoon Sea Salt
• 1 Freshly cracked pepper
• 1 Generous scrapings of fresh nutmeg
• 3 Eggs, beaten
• 2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
• 3 cups Walnuts, soaked and toasted/dried, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup Bread Crumbs, made from stale bread
• 1 Tablespoon Honey

Directions

1. For fresh pasta, cook in salted boiling water for about a minute. Remove the pasta with a slotted spoon and place on a clean towel, do not place on top of each other (or they will stick together). For no boil pasta, if your cheese mixture is quite runny and you plan on letting it sit in the fridge for awhile, the bottom noodles could be used as is. However, I would recommend boiling some (or all if using immediately) of the noodles until pliable.
2. Butter your baking dish(es). I used two 9x7x2.5 inch casserole dishes, making one for our family and one for a friend. Or you could use one large 10x13 baking dish. Pour about 1/3 cup of heavy cream onto the bottom of the baking dish.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine mascarpone, ricotta, 1 cup of heavy cream, 2 cups of Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, eggs and vinegar. Mix well and set aside.
4. Place pasta rectangles on top of the thin layer of heavy cream to cover the pan, but do not overlap. On top of the pasta, spread a layer of the cheese mixture. Next add a layer of chopped walnuts. Cover the nuts with pasta and repeat with cheese mixture and walnuts. Continue this layering process until you have used up all the cheese and nuts. Finish with a layer of pasta.
5. The lasagna can be covered with plastic wrap and left to rest in a cool place for an hour or two or in the refrigerator for longer.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Tear the bread into small pieces and process in a food processor until fine crumbs appear. Mix half a cup of crumbs with the remaining half a cup of grated Parmesan and sprinkle over the lasagna. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden. Allow lasagna to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Drizzle individual pieces with a bit of honey.

Prep Time: 45 min Cook Time: 30 min Ready in: 1 h 15 min

Creamy Honey Drizzled Walnut Lasagna courtesy of Jamie Del Balso.

Did you like this recipe? Find more authentic Italian recipes in this wonderful cookbook.

Aunt Melanie's Pasta

Our first CSA box arrived just before our road trip to Florida.  I had to figure out what to do with all of the fresh produce - some of it I was able to freeze, some I gave away and some I brought with us since we were bringing along a cooler and food for meals along the way.  I brought the salad greens and some pac-choi along with us hoping to use it when making meals for our family and grandpa during the week.  Unfortunately, grandpa ended up in the hospital before I was able to make him dinner.  Before we left, Ryan's dad and uncle (and their spouses) came down to be with grandpa in the hospital.  Instead of going out for dinner the last night we were there we ended up raiding the fridge and pantry and making whatever we could think of.  Left-over ribs, salad, and Aunt Melanie's pac-choi pasta dish were a few of the items on the menu.  It turned out to be a lovely meal and I have since made the Choi Pasta for our family - guessing mostly on what the ingredients were.  We served it with a side salad of some salad greens, tomatoes, white beans, Kalamata olives, salt and pepper then drizzled olive oil over the top.  Even the kids loved it!  The result is as follows...

Choi Pasta

1/2 Onion (chopped)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic (lots)
2-3 bunches of Choi/Chinese Cabbage (such as Pac-Choi, Joi Choi or Bok Choi)
1- 2 Tablespoons Capers
1/2 lb Pasta (we used farfalle/bow tie)
1-2 oz Parmesan, grated
Salt and pepper to taste

Begin by heating a pan over medium heat, add EVOO and chopped onion when pan is hot.  In another pot boil water and a sprinkling of salt for pasta (about half a box should do it), cook according to package directions.  While the onion is cooking, thoroughly wash the choi and chop.  When the onions have softened and are starting to brown, add garlic - crushed or sliced and quickly add wet chopped choi and cook until wilted.  Season choi with salt and pepper, add capers and more EVOO - enough to coat pasta.  When pasta is done cooking, run it under cold water to stop it from becoming mushy.  Add the pasta to the pan with the choi and stir until ingredients are fully mixed.  Top with grated parmesan.

Side notes:  I had some garlic scapes, so I chopped those up and added them with the onions then added some crushed garlic (at least three cloves).  You may want to try adding some toasted pine nuts to this dish for a little more protein.  I thought it would go well with it, but have not tried it.

For a printable version of this recipe, click on the recipe title above.

Where it all Began - Pasta Primavera

Last week I shared my first salad dressing committed to memory, but this week I'm sharing the recipe that got me interested in cooking, not just baking.  My uncle has a passion for food and cooking and showed me how to make this simple "Pasta Primavera" as he called it.  If I am remembering correctly my grandma and I were visiting him in Florida over my spring break my freshman year of college.  He had lots of fresh veggies and a jar of homemade canned stewed tomatoes.  Add some spices and seasonings and serve over some pasta - dinner was done!  It smelled fantastic and tasted incredible to me - so different from the "spaghetti" that I was used to eating.  This became a recipe that I made for friends often - nothing written down, just a process to remember and a variety of fresh or frozen veggies.

This is a great recipe in the height of summer when fresh vegetables are in abundance at farmers markets or in your own garden, but it is also a nice hearty meal that can be made year round with vegetables that store well (like carrots) alongside frozen vegetables.  Be creative with the vegetables that you use.  You can use green beans, summer squash and zuchini, cauliflower, asparagus, spinach or other greens, etc.  The key is to use vegetables that you and your family like and maybe try one new one.  I have not canned my own stewed tomatoes yet, but I hope to this summer.  We want to grow our own tomatoes, in addition to what we will get from our CSA, and hope to have enough to try our hand at canning.  I did can some marinara sauce once - wow that was a lot of work for the small batch of tomatoes that I had.  But now that I know the lining of canned goods contains BPA, I'd like to do a lot more of my own canning.  Ryan got me a huge pressure canner one year, but since then I haven't had a place to have a garden large enough to get much use out of the canner.

Pasta Primavera

Ingredients:
Olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium garlic cloves, crushed
*6-8 oz pork tenderloin (optional)
variety of fresh or frozen vegetables
(I used broccoli, carrots, edamame, peas)

1 large can stewed tomatoes with juices
Italian Seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste
Sucanat or sugar to taste
*Corn starch, optional
Spaghetti or similar pasta, cooked

Saute onions in olive oil over medium heat until beginning to soften; add crushed garlic and cook for about a minute to fully flavor oil.  If using the pork tenderloin, cut into small bite sized pieces and add to pan, keeping separate from onions/garlic.  Remove the pork when

browned on all sides, set aside for later.  Add carrots and other fresh vegetables to onions and garlic.  If using frozen vegetables, add those after fresh veggies have started to soften.  When vegetables are beginning to soften, yet still slightly firm/crisp, add stewed tomatoes and about a teaspoon of Italian seasoning - the one I used in the pictures was brought back from Italy by a friend and happens to contain some dried pepper flakes, which adds a nice little kick.  Feel free to add a bit of spice, but not too much that it over powers your meal.  Be sure to salt the sauce well, but not too much - just enough to enhance the flavor.  Add a tablespoon or two of sweetener to cut the acidity of the tomatoes.  If you like a thicker, less runny sauce, add a 

teaspoon or two to a bit of cold water, stir well and then add to sauce.  Bring sauce to a boil to thicken.  Return pork to sauce and simmer for a few minutes.  Serve over pasta and with some fresh bread and a side salad.