Sandwiches and salad

Got an applewood smoked ham quarter for $3 at Target. It's certainly not a quality ham or a big ham, but it's sliced for sandwiches and has 1.66 pounds. I heated it with water in the crock pot.

We made sandwiches on bagels from NY Bagel & Deli in the 25th Street shopping plaza, leftover mozzarella from Calandra's in Nazareth, and that kale-zucchini-cream cheese dip from Lost Gourmet at the Pheonixville Farmers Market yesterday.

We served with an Asian style salad that began life as a Fresh Express Very Veggie with some greens and sorrel from my garden, dried peas, dried pineapple, cucumber and Newman's Own Ginger Sesame dressing.

Pasta two times

Last night, we had some pasta, with plain tomato sauce, herbs from the garden (oregano, lots of basil), fresh tomato, crumbled Morningstar vegetarian breakfast patties and romano from Calandra's Italian cheeses.

Today for lunch, I was feeling like a needed a hearty meal, so I fried some honey ham, tore it, and dropped the leftover noodles in the frying pan with the ham. As it heated, I added shredded gruyere. Perfect for this rainy day.

Eggplant Spinach Lasagne

I stopped after my haircut and splurged on some cheese from Calandra's. I wanted a twist of mozzerella, but the per pound price is up to $6 making the average twist $7-something. I had $6-something.

So, I also purchased a pound of grated romano, which brought my tab to $14.88 and seemed more appropriate if I were going to write a check.

For lunch we had mozzerrella with the leftover fried ham (think breadless sandwiches), my mom's ugly bean dip, bruschetta made with tomatoes and basil from the garden, and the last loaf of homemade bread from the freezer.

If I had thought about it, I would have also purchased ricotta. But I didn't. So when I got the idea to use some of the mozzerrella to make a lasagne (I have had one box of no boil lasagne noodles forever) I needed some other filling. I decided on eggplant and spinach.

Ingredients:
- one box no boil lasagne noodles
- garlic powder
- 2 cans tomato sauce (the normal sized cans, not the tiny ones)
- four color organic peppercorn
- olive oil
- about 2 cups spinach
- about ten pieces of breaded and fried eggplant
- 1/3 pound fresh mozzerella

The lasagne has three layers. So used about 1/3 for each layer. Except for the eggplant, it only goes on the bottom 2 layers.

In a small pyrex casserole dish, layer the sauce, noodles, spices, a little cheese, eggplant, spinach, and then repeat. The top layer has no eggplant, but does have cheese. I used spaghetti noodles to tent aluminum foil over the whole lasagne and baked at 375 for an hour. I plan to uncover for the last 15 minutes.

Terri Pasta

Do you ever have it happen that your family christens a meal with a name different that what you gave it?

So it is with "Terri pasta."
Terri was coworker about a decade ago and she gave us this fabulous, simple recipe. Perfect for hot summer days.

Garlic pasta with broccoli and ricotta salata
ricotta salata, into tiny chunks and grated
broccoli
fresh garlic, sliced
olive oil and butter

1. Get a nice hunk of ricotta salata (in the Lehigh Valley, we have Calandras, where they make their own fabulous Italian cheeses. Ricotta salata is their homemade ricotto, aged and salted. It does not melt in the skillet and keeps for a long time.
2. Sauté the chunks of cheese and garlic in enough olive oil and garlic to lightly but completely lubricate the pasta.
3. Add the broccoli once the cheese and garlic starts to brown.
4. Cook until the broccoli is the way you like it. I like mine crisp. And bite sized pieces.
5. Add to your favorite pasta. Tri-color rotini is best because it captures the cheese and sauce in the grooves.
6. Sprinkle with grated ricotta salata.

Spinach Lasagne

I did not put forth my best effort on this one. My daughter requested lasagne, and it's not one of my favorites to make, but since her father is preparing dinner tomorrow I thought it would be a nice treat for them. A hot meal when Mommy's not here.

This is a small lasagne in I believe a 14 by 9 Pyrex dish, only about two inches deep.

For the cheese filling:
about a pound and a half fresh ricotta
one can spinach
garlic powder
basil
pizza and pasta seasoning

I mixed everything together (including the liquid from the spinach) with about a tablespoon garlic powder, two tablespoons basil, two tablespoons pizza and pasta seasoning.

For sauce, I use one can (the little 8 ounce cans) of generic no salt added tomato sauce. That's why I put so many seasonings in the cheese mix. Commercial tomato sauces have a ton of salt and sugar. And they're expensive. I've tried making my own. So far, it's not worth the effort.

Some mozzarella would me nice. And of course the no boil lasagne noodles.

I poured at least half a can of sauce on the bottom of the dish, layered in a single layer of noodles and put in the other half a can of sauce. Then I plopped in half the ricotta spinach mixture, which filled about half the dish. Oops. More sauce. More noodles. A layer of mozzarella. The rest of the cheese. More sauce. More noodles. A second layer of noodles. More mozzarella, more sauce. Done.

Update: It's not my best work, somewhat bland, but edible. Easy to doctor on the table if needed. I had a small serving for dinner. My husband packed some for lunch and I had cold lasagne for breakfast. With the remaining portion, I sliced two pieces for future lunches and packed those in aluminum foil to freeze.

I like my lasagne crispy, so I took a piece the size of a loaf pan, wrapped it in foil with the seam on top, and placed it inside a pyrex loaf pan. This particular pan has a lid that I had planned to put on before I froze, but now I can't find it. My thought was to freeze in the dish, thaw in fridge, remove the lid, crack the foil and toss back in oven for another meal.

Cheese platter

Normally, I would never advocate two cheese-oriented meals in one day, but today I went to Calandra's Italian cheeses in Nazareth... And everyone knows Calandra's mozzarella must be eaten while still wet to enjoy the full flavor.

I spent $13.57 at Calandra's on some ricotta salata, some fresh ricotta (lasagne to prep today so my husband can cook it when I work late tomorrow) and the last hunk of fresh mozzarella of the day.

Then I went to Giant and got strawberries, bananas, and watermelon. I also grabbed some no-boil lasagne noodles and some no-salt added tomato sauce. Half a gallon of Turkey Hill lemonade because I've needed a lemonade fix and a 32 ounce container of vanilla yogurt. $13 and some change.

Then I went to the liquor store. Two bottles of Vouvray and one bottle of Bordeaux. $36. Ouch.

So for dinner, my husband arranged a platter of apples, strawberries, watermelon and banana with cheddar and the mozzarella. Plus Aldi brand triscuits. JIF Natural Peanut Butter (so smooth and yummy). And Inglehoffer Sweet Hot Mustard for me. The mustard was for the cheddar. The peanut butter was for any of the fruits but the watermelon.

My husband asked what a French person would think of this dinner. I replied that a French person would consider it a cheese course and be wondering what I did with the rest of the dinner. Now, to get him to uncork the Vouvray.