Vegetarian Lasagna with white sauce or Bechamel sauce

This is a nice vegetarian dish that you can make even during Lent.  You can substitute the lasagna noodles with gluten free lasagna noodles.  You can also omit the mushrooms.  My daughter doesn't like mushrooms, so if I make this dish when she is coming over for dinner, I will omit the mushrooms altogether.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (Makes 12 servings appr. 8.5 oz each serving)

8 oz. lasagna noodles

3 tbs. olive oil

1 cup diced onions

1 tbs. chopped garlic

1 cup diced carrots

8 oz. mushrooms

12 oz. frozen spinach defrosted and drained of all the water

16 oz. cottage cheese

2 eggs

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

3 ¼ cup shredded mozzarella

White sauce or Bechamel sauce

3 tbs. butter

3 tbs. flour

3 cups skim milk

½ cup parmesan

¼ tsp. nutmeg

Directions

Cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions.  When cooked drain the water and set aside to cool. 

In the meantime, peel and wash the onions and carrots.  Dice them and set them aside.  Peel and dice the garlic.  In a large sauce pan, add the olive oil and sauté the diced onions and garlic. Add the diced carrots, mushrooms and spinach. Season to taste.  Remove from heat, let it cool, then add the cottage cheese, eggs and 1 cup shredded mozzarella. Set aside.

Make the white sauce:

In a pan, melt the butter and add the flour, to make a roux.  While stirring with a whisk add the milk and nutmeg, and continue cooking till it thickens, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and add the ½ cup Parmesan. Mix  well together and set it aside.

Assembly:

Layer the lasagna, by putting some of the white sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 oven proof pan, then the lasagna noodles, the spinach filling, some of the white sauce, and repeat. On top finish with noodles, white sauce and 2 and ¼ cups shredded mozzarella. Bake at 350° F for about an hour till the cheese is all melted and it’s heated through.  Remove from the oven and let it cool before serving. 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 serving (235.8 g)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 321

Calories from Fat 151

Total Fat 16.8g

Saturated Fat 8.4g

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 73mg

Sodium 562mg

Total Carbohydrates 21.2g

Dietary Fiber 1.3g

Sugars 4.8g

Protein 21.7g

 The stuffing

The layers with the stuffing....

.....and the noodles....

....with the shredded mozzarella before it goes in the oven

The final product... ready to eat.  Enjoy!

Crust-less Broccoli and Turkey Bacon Quiche

Makes 16 servings

7.7 oz smoked turkey bacon chopped (approx. 1 cup)

2 red onions chopped (about 1.5 cups)

¼ cup olive oil

1 red pepper sliced (about 1 cup)

3 cups fresh broccoli chopped

2 tbs chopped parsley

¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

2 cups low moisture park skim milk mozzarella (16 oz)

1 cup egg beaters

+ (plus) 4 eggs

1.5 cups skim milk

Chop the turkey bacon and sauté in a frying pan. Remove from pan when browned and add the 1/4 cup olive oil. In the oil, add the chopped red onion, the diced red pepper and the broccoli flowerets. Sauté until the pepper is slightly softened, and the broccoli turns bright green color. Remove from the heat.

In another bowl, combine the shredded mozzarella cheese, the milk, the eggbeaters and the eggs. Add the broccoli/turkey mixture to the cheese/milk mixture. Stir together and pour into two 9" plates evenly. Bake at 350 degree F oven for 45-50 minutes or until the toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and serve.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 4.536 oz (128.6g)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 193

Calories from Fat 128

Total Fat 14.2g

Saturated Fat 6.3g

Cholesterol 75mg

Sodium 436mg

Total Carbohydrates4.5g

Dietary Fiber 0.8g

Sugars 2.3g

Protein6.5g

Crust-less Broccoli Red Pepper Quiche

Makes 12 servings

1 red pepper sliced (about 1 cup)

24 oz frozen chopped broccoli (2-12 oz bags)

5 green onions chopped (about 6 oz)

¼ cup olive oil

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

½ cup dill

¼ cup parsley

1 cup Colby Monterey Jack cheese shredded

½ cup Pecorino Romano cheese shredded

6 eggs

1 cup skim milk

1 cup low moisture part skim milk mozzarella shredded

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

  

Saute the green onions and red peppers in the olive oil. Add the frozen broccoli and heat through till it's warm and slightly soft. Add the parsley and dill. Stir. Remove from heat. Combine the shredded colby chesse, mozzarella skim milk cheese and romano. Add the eggs and milk. Pour into the cooled broccoli-red pepper mixture. Mix together. Pour into two 9" pie plates. Bake at 350 degree oven for 45 min or till toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 5.686 oz (161.2g)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 227

Calories from Fat139

Total Fat 15.4g

Saturated Fat 6.8g

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 113mg

Sodium 453mg

Total Carbohydrates 8.7g

Dietary Fiber 2.6g

Sugars 2.9g

Protein 15.3g

Crust-less Broccoli Fennel Quiche

Makes 8 servings 

2 tbsp olive oil
1.5 cups sliced red onion
1 cup fennel cleaned, washed and sliced
12 oz frozen broccoli defrosted
2 tbsp fennel leaves chopped
1 cup low moisture part skim milk mozzarella cheese shredded
¾ cup Pecorino Romano shredded
1 ¾ cup egg beaters (approx. 1 carton)
1 cup skim milk

Saute the onion and fennel in the olive oil. Add the broccoli. Set aside to cool. Mix together the egg beaters, shredded mozzarella, romano cheese and milk. Add to the broccoli/fennel mixture. Butter a 9x2 inch pie plate. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Pour the mixture into the pie plate and bake for 1 hour or till a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 7.09 oz (201g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 227
Calories from Fat 112
Total Fat 12.4g
Saturated Fat 6.0g
Cholesterol 31mg
Sodium 469mg
Total Carbohydrates 9.6g
Dietary Fiber 2.1g
Sugars 3.8g
Protein 19.9g

Eggplant and Penne with Bechamel Sauce - Greek Style

This is my version of moussaka.  Instead of layering the eggplant with the meat sauce, I decided to do a vegetarian version.  I took the eggplant and made a tomato base sauce with it.  Instead of the eggplant as the base of this dish (the layering), I used penne pasta.  Covered it with the bechamel sauce and mozzarella cheese and baked it in the oven.  It came out delicious.  

This could be quite an intimidating dish to make for the novice cook.  It's not that difficult, but one needs to be organized.  You can start by having all the ingredients on hand, before you even begin to make this dish.  Once all the ingredients are ready, you start making it without any difficulty following the instructions.  This dish takes me about two hours to make from start to finish.  An hour to prepare the sauce and assemble and an hour in the oven.  But I do have a couple of the elements on my stove burning at the same time.  While the sauce is simmering I boil the pasta.  Once the pasta is done and the sauce is almost there, I drain the pasta and begin on the bechamel sauce.  I pay full attention to the bechamel sauce.  I want it to be perfect without any lumps.  In the meantime, the sauce is off the hot stove and the pasta has drained well.  When the bechamel sauce is done, I begin the assembly.  And from there it's just baking it in the oven... and the one thing that all of us don't like to do, is washing and cleaning up all the pots and pans.  In the end, though, you have a wonderfully tasting good dish.  Serve it with a romaine lettuce salad, or a spinach salad.  it actually tastes good the next day too and packs well as lunch for work or school.  Just reheat in the microwave.    


Enjoy!!!   

Eggplant and Penne with Bechamel Sauce Greek Style         

Eight (8) servings (approximately 13 oz/per serving)

½ cup olive oil + 1/3 cup olive oil for the tomato sauce

½ cup chopped onion

1 tsp chopped garlic

4 cups diced eggplant

½ cup parsley

2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground pepper

1 14.5 oz box of multi grain penne

Peel the eggplant, in stripes (1).  Rinse under cold water, pat it dry and dice it.  In a heavy saucepan, over high heat, add the ½ cup of olive oil.  Add the chopped onion and chopped garlic.  Sauté, until transparent.  Add the diced eggplant.  The eggplant will absorb all the oil.  Sauté until the eggplant is moistened with the oil (look at the picture below)  

Add the fresh-diced tomatoes, the chopped parsley, the canned diced tomatoes, the tomato sauce, and the extra 1/3 cup of olive oil.  Add the salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer until the eggplant is tender but not mushy (approximately 30-40 minutes) (See picture below).  Remove from heat. 

In the meantime, bring a big pot of water to a boil.  Add salt, if you prefer in the water (2), and then add the pasta (penne).  Cook according to the package directions.  When cooked, remove from heat, drain and rinse under cold water, if you added salt.  The rinsing will rinse the extra salt off the pasta but without leaving it bland.  Set aside.

Bechamel Sauce (White Sauce)

4 tbsp butter

4 tbsp flour

2 cups milk

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I buy the part skim milk/low moisture mozzarella)

In a small saucepan over medium high heat, melt the 4 tbsp. butter.  Add the 4 tbsp. flour stirring constantly.  Gradually add the 2 cups of milk stirring constantly with a whisk.  Lower the heat to low and continue cooking and stirring to avoid any lumps (3).  Continue cooking over low heat until the sauce thickens.  Remove from heat.  While still hot, add the 1 cup shredded mozzarella, and continue stirring with the whisk until the mozzarella melts and the sauce becomes velvety smooth.  Set aside. 

The Bechamel Sauce

The assembly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

In a 13x9 (4) pan, layer half the pasta, then the eggplant/tomato sauce and then the rest of the pasta.  

The penne pasta layered with the eggplant tomato sauce

Pour the béchamel sauce on top, covering all the pasta. 

Bake in the oven for about one hour and a half or until it’s bubbly and the top golden brown.  Wait to cool a bit before serving. 

 Baked, out of the oven.  

Serve when cool.

Notes:

(1) When I peel an eggplant I don’t peel all the skin away.  I will peel it in stripes.  I will cut the stem first, then I will peel it lengthwise; leaving about half an inch of skin, peel another half inch, and so on.   

(2) Adding salt when boiling pasta.  I usually add 1 tsp of salt when I boil the pasta.  This way there is some flavor in the pasta.  Afterwards I rinse it in cold water.  Some of the salt will rinse off, but the flavor of the salt will stay with the pasta.  If you try to add salt after the pasta is cooked, it will not flavor it.  This is on individual tastes.

(3) If by any chance you get any lumps on the béchamel sauce, take a fine mesh strainer and pour the sauce through it, to another pot, while the strainer holds back any lumps.  Return to heat, and continue cooking and stirring, till it’s velvety smooth.  

(4)  The pan measurements are inside the pan.

(5) The nutrition facts below include the béchamel sauce.

Nutrition Facts (5)

Serving Size                                         1serving (355.9 g-approximately 13 oz)

Amount Per Serving

            Calories                                               563

Calories from Fat                                              307                              % Daily Value

Total Fat                                                           34.1g                           52%

Saturated Fat                                                   9.4g                             47%

Trans Fat                                                          0.0g

Cholesterol                                                       28mg                           9%

Sodium                                                             1009mg                       42%

Total Carbohydrates                                         58.1g                           19%

Dietary Fiber                                                     6.4g                             26%

Sugars                                                             9.1g

Protein                                                             12.8g