Ricotta and Spinach Crepe Lasagna

Yes, I am guilty of neglecting everyone. So Sorry! The truth is that I've lost a bit of inspiration lately and even dropped out of my lunch group at work for a while! I also recently discovered Facebook, which is definitely procrastination-central.

But another reason I haven't posted in a while is because of the holidays and because I'm actually starting to repeat recipes, believe it or not! This blog is doing what I hoped it would do by grouping my favorite recipes in one place so I wouldn't forget them and would try them again.

I recently compiled my favorite recipes from this blog, from Cooking Light, and from Epicurious and created a cookbook on Tastebook. I then sent this homemade cookbook to several relatives for Christmas. It was a hit! Let me know if you'd like to share your own recipes with me on Tastebook or on this blog!

Today, I am posting a recipe I made a few weeks ago. I had intended to make canneloni, but the crepes I made were falling apart, so it turned out to be easier to make a lasagna. The crepes are different than my previous posts because they're made with chickpea flour (completely wheat-free) and no eggs. The chickpea flour gives them a smoky flavor, which goes well with marinara.



Ricotta and Spinach Crepe Lasagna
For the crepes:
1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons light sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
olive oil

For the filling:
15 ounces container fresh ricotta (or 1 pound)
1 egg, lightly beaten
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound fresh baby spinach
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
salt and pepper

For the sauce:
4 cups Homemade Marinara

Parmesan cheese, grated

To make the crepes, whisk together 3 1/2 cups cold water, flours, oil, and salt in a bowl to form a thin batter. Strain through a sieve, cover, and set aside for at least an hour. Heat a non-stick crepe skillet on medium-high heat. Brush with olive oil and pour 1/3 cup batter. Heat until the bottom is browned, about 1 minute, and flip and heat for 30 seconds more. Pile on a plate and set aside.

For the filling, mix ricotta and egg in a medium bowl. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add garlic. Heat the garlic until fragrant. Add the spinach, and cook until wilted and liquid is absorbed. Drain and cool spinach and chop. Add spinach to the ricotta mixture and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

To build the lasagna, spread a 1/4 cup of the marinara sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan. Spread crepes on top until the pan is covered in 1 layer. Top with half of ricotta cheese mixture and then with 1 cup of marinara sauce. Then add another layer of crepes, ricotta, and sauce. Top with a final layer of crepes and the rest of the marinara and a sprinkling of Parmesan. Heat in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes or until heated through.

Guinness Battered Basa with Oven Roasted Rosemary Chips and Escarole Apple Salad

I was in the mood for Fish and Chips today. This is a variation that suited my mood. Instead of ale, I used Guinness for a deeper, earthier flavor, and instead of frying the chips, I baked them in the oven with rosemary. Any substantial white fish will do here, but I am partial to basa, which is similar to catfish but with a much cleaner flavor. Sweet enterprise apples accompanied the fish and chips very well!



Guinness Battered Basa
Serves 4

2 cups flour
12 oz bottle Guinness
Canola oil
Salt and pepper
Lemon wedges

The fish is very simple. Heat 1/2 inch oil in a skillet over medium high heat until hot.

In a bowl, sift 1 1/2 cups flour and whisk in beer. Let sit for 15 minutes to relax the gluten in the flour.

Rinse and pat dry the basa and cut into 2 inch pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dredge the fish pieces in 1/2 cup of the flour and set aside on a dish. Do not dredge in the batter until you are ready to fry the fish.

When ready to fry fish, dredge the pieces in the beer batter and slide the pieces into the skillet. Fry for about 5 minutes, flipping, until golden brown. Transfer to a plate with paper towels until ready to serve. Serve warm with lemon wedges.



Oven Roasted Rosemary Chips
Serves 2 (Double to serve 4)

2 baking potatoes
olive oil
rosemary
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch fries, lengthwise. Place in a non-stick baking dish with enough olive oil to coat and salt and pepper. Place in oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, stir the potatoes and sprinkle desired amount of rosemary. The potatoes may seem to be sticking to the pan at this point. This is ok. After the chips are done cooking and when the pan cools, the bits on the pan will come off easily. Place the potatoes back in the oven for another 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Apple and Escarole Salad
Serves 2
6 leaves curly escarole
1 enterprise apple
Muscat orange vinegar

Wash escarole leaves and chop by hand. Evenly distribute on plates. Cut apple in quarters and remove cores with a paring knife. Chop into small pieces and distribute over escarole. Top with a drizzle of the vinegar.

This Week's Menu

I'm starting to fall in love with my new slow cooker, and I made sure to plan a menu where almost every meal has a slow-cooked piece. For example, the refried beans for the burritos, the marinara sauce, and the beef stew will all be done in the slow cooker.

Breakfast
Slow-cooked oatmeal with apples and cinnamon

Lunch
Refried Black Bean Burritos, with Roasted Vegetables, Rice, Salsa, and Guacamole

Dinner
Guinness-Battered Basa with Oven-Roasted Rosemary Chips and Apple Escarole Salad
Gnocchi or Portabello-Shiitake Ravioli in Homemade Marinara and with Sauteed Spinach
Crepe Manicotti
Cranberry Beef Stew (made with organic and grass-fed beef) with Steamed Broccoli
Pizza with Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Pancetta

This Week's Menu

It's getting quite cold here in the Bay Area, colder than I remember it getting here, down to the 40's at night. Because of this, I'm in the mood for warm, comforting foods. We also ordered a Cuisinart Slow Cooker with a gift certificate, and it should be arriving this week, so we'll have to try it out! Here's our planned menu for the week:

Breakfast
Apricot and Cherry Granola with yogurt

Lunch (for my lunch group)
Italian Pasta and Bean Stew

Dinner
Seared Orange Scallops with sauteed peppers
Frittata with Tuscan Kale (got this from Lucullian Delights and it looks wonderful!)
French Beans with Smoked Sausage
Fresh Vegetable Penne

Pasta and Bean Stew

My grandmother made this dish for us, and I find it yummy to have a bean gravy with your pasta. This version is a vegetarian version derived from “Food and Memories of Abruzzo, Italy’s Pastoral Land,” by Anna Teresa Callen.

Beans:
1 pound cranberry beans, picked over and washed
1 celery rib with leaves
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 sprigs fresh parsely
2 bay leaves
1 piece of Parmesan rind (a large hunk of the hard rind left from a Parmesan wheel)
Sauce:
1 medium onion, quartered
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 4 pieces
1 sprig fresh parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 16 oz. can pureed tomatoes
1 teaspoon tomato paste
Freshly ground black pepper
Red pepper flakes
Pasta:
1 cup short pasta, such as tubetti or lumachine

Soak beans and drain and rinse. Place beans, celery, garlic, parsley, and bay leaves in a large soup pot. Add 2½ quarts of cold water. Bring to a boil. Add the Parmesan rind to the beans. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the beans are tender, about 2 hours.

To prepare the sauce, place the veggies, including the parsley, in a food processor to chop finely. In a 10-inch skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and add the chopped vegetables. Cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes and tomato paste, stir, add pepper and the red pepper flakes. Cook the sauce over medium-low heat at a simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.

With a slotted spoon, remove the celery, garlic, and parsley that was cooked with the beans. Place these in a food processor with 1 cup of the beans. Puree and return to the pot. Add the sauce, bring the soup back to a boil, reduce heat to low, and summer 10 to 15 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of boiling water for about 5 minutes. Drain. Add the pasta to the beans and bring the soup back to a boil and cook until the pasta is done, 5 to 8 minutes. Let the soup rest 5 minutes before serving.

Baked Wonton Chips

I made a stir fry tonight, and Cooking Light suggested baking wonton wrappers to make chips.....It was great! This is what I did:

1/2 package round wontons
olive oil spray (I use a misto sprayer)
garlic salt

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a baking sheet with olive oil. Place wonton wrappers on the tray and spray with olive oil. Shake garlic salt on top and bake for about 8 minutes until golden.

Yum, yum, yum!!

One Year Anniversary!

I can hardly believe that it's already been a year since I started this blog. Reflecting back on this year, I can see that my blog ended up not being what I thought it would be and that it has offered what I didn't imagine.

I envisioned this blog to be a resource for Ayurvedic recipes and that each recipe would contain nutritional information. Instead, it has become a log of the meals created throughout the year, through the seasons, and my cravings, whims, and successes and failures. I have to say that I am the opposite of many people when it comes to cooking. Rather than getting bored with the same dishes, I tend to make different meals all the time. Because of this, my husband and I can't remember what dishes I made that were better than others, and I don't give myself a chance to perfect anything. Now that I have a year's worth of seasonal dishes, I have proof of recipes I can come back to and try again to make better the next time around.

I found that my most vocal audience are my friends and other friendly pescetarians out there. Thank you to everyone for your comments and to my husband and friends at work for photography tips. I never thought I would like taking shots so much, and it wasn't until I started taking the pictures that I realized how difficult it can be to make a nice image. I also never realized that food photos are so different from other kinds of shots.

So here's to another year of recipes, photos, stories, and ideas. Hope to see you there!