If you have a free day coming up and have nothing planned keep it that way! I have something for you that will take up the better part of your morning but is so so worth it!
I found this recipe a few weeks ago and was so intrigued by it. While shopping at the grocery store with my dad I came across spaghetti rice noodles. Now let me tell you, these noodles are SO fantastic. Egg free, gluten free, wheat free, can it get any better than that? To top it all off it taste amazing, I mean much better than your whote flour or whole wheat noodles. They're even so full of flavour that if you're feeling lazy you don't even really need to throw much in with your pasta to make it taste fantastic.
When I found this recipe for homemade spinach lasagna noodles I was so excited. I didn't realize how much time it would take to actually make them and roll outhe dough, but let me tell you I would do this over and over again, it is so worth the time and labour you put into this and trust me the people who goble it up woth you (if you're willing to share) will appreciate it.
First let's start with the spinach noodles, and then I will go onto to show you what I did for my healthy and delicious filling!
Spinach Egg Noodles
Recipe taken from
hereIngredients:
- 2 jumbo eggs
- 10 ounces fresh spinach, rinsed, stemmed, cooked, squeezed dry, and finely chopped.
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
To mix the pasta:
Place all of the ingredients in the bowl of your Stand Mixers. Mix with your Dough Hook until all the dough comes together and is a nice smooth ball of dough. Let it knead for about 5 minutes. If it isn’t coming together add a few more tablespoons of flour.
Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours. (I wrapped mine a
nd put it in the refrigerator until the next day. I let it come to room temperature before I rolled it out. It was wonderful to roll!)
Cut the dough into four equal pieces. The smaller pieces will be easier to roll out nice and thin.
Use a rolling pin to get the dough thin. Continue rolling and stretching, until your dough is the desired thickness. Make sure you continually check the dough to make sure it isn’t sticking to your counter. Use a Pizza Wheel to cut the desired shape a
nd size of pasta, lasagna noodles are large flat sheets so this is easy.
Lay on a drying rack. Once the pasta is dry you will bring lots of water to a boil, salt it really well and boil the pasta for 2-3 minutes. It won’t be completely cooked, not even close. It will merely soften slightly so you can arrange it in the lasagna pan. It will cook completely when the lasagna is baked. If you over boil the noodles they will be mushy by the time your lasagna bakes.
Now onto the filling recipe!
Ingredients: - Spinach noodles
- 1 can crushed tomatoes with 1 tsp dried thyme oregano rosemary and 1/2 tsp chili peppers
- 1 bunch kale, ribs removed
- 3/4 cup spinach sauteed
- 1 tbsp EVOO
- 1 clove crushed garlic
- 1 bunch of basil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 1/2 cups cottage cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 hard boiled egg sprinkled on top
- 1 summer zucchini cooked slightly in EVOO
Directions:Boil a large pot of water with a generous amount of salt. Once your water comes to a boil, put your noodles in gently and cook for 2-3 minutes until tender but not mushy.
In a medium skillet, slightly wilt your bunch kale and fresh spinach in EVOO with 1 clove of garlic crushed. Set aside. Cut your summertime squash and sautée for about 2 minutes, set aside.
In a food processor or blender purée your cottage cheese, basil, egg, sea salt and pepper.
Open your can of crushed tomatoes, if you decided to be lazy like me and not make homemade tomato sauce. Toss in 1 tsp of dried thyme, oregano and rosemary. Adjust red chili peppers to taste, I put 1/2 tsp. Mix until all herbs are incorporated.
Get your lasagna dish out, depending if you want to make mini lasagnas, or large etc... I got two large lasagnas out of this recipe.
Spread some sauce mixture evenly on the bottom. Top with spinach noodles. Then with cheese mixture. Following with vegetable mixture, then top with some summertime squash. Repeat until you reach the top. Then, sprinkle the hard boiled egg and cheese if desired.
Cook on 350 degrees C between 45-60 minutes.
I honestly cannot tell you how delicious this recipe is. Its so good you don't even need to put cheese on top (I mean really if you're a giant cheese fan go ahead) but its rich enough without it. I loooooved this meal! It was divine absolutely divine. I will definitely make this again especially if I have family or friends coming over for a special dinner. I know the pictures may not show how amazing the quality of this lasagna is but do yourself a favour and just trust me on this one. Let's just say that people who I fed this to that don't regularily eat vegetables went for seconds!Trust me, put a few hours aside and you will be thanking me, ah!
Summer Squash with Chevre and Thyme
Recipe taken from here
I also have this recipe, (which I don't have the picture yet since it's on my main computer), but I figured since this goes hand in hand with the lasagna I might as well update it here and will add the pictures when I get my computer back.
This was a delicious meal. This is the dish that introduced me to summer squash. I had never had it before but had bought it with my zucchini because I wanted to brighten up my dish. I was pleasantly surprised when I bit into it and it wasn't the same flavour as the zucchini but a rather sweet one. It reminded me of a sweet potato in zucchini form. This was so good, I couldn't stop picking it off of the pan and just eating it like that. My friend devoured it also. This was so simple to make, it's healthy and it just screams summer. I absolutely fell in-love with this vegetable and cannot wait until next summer so I can stock up and try this great veggie in different dishes! If you still have some summer squash laying around I highly suggest making this.
Ingredients:
- 4 young summer squash, sliced 1/2” thick
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh chopped thyme, divided
- 2 oz chevre
- EVOO
- Sea salt
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a bowl, toss the squash slices with 1 teaspoon of the thyme, enough olive oil to lightly coat, and a generous pinch of kosher salt. Place the squash slices on a baking sheet in a single layer and season with a bit more salt. Roast the squash for 15-16 minutes, turning once halfway through.
Remove the squash from the oven and place on a serving platter. If you’d like, drizzle on a little more fresh olive oil and add another sprinkling of salt. Crumble the chevre over the squash and top with the remaining half teaspoon of thyme. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Spinach Rice Pasta with Vegetables
As I said earlier I had recently picked up a package of spaghetti rice pasta, I figured I might as well show you guys what I did with that eh? This really was a good dish. Very, very, VERY green though, I wanted to add more colour but it seemed everything in my fridge at the time was only green, oh well, it's still healthy!
Ingredients:
- Bunch of spinach rice spaghetti
- 1 1/2 green onion stalks
- 1/2 green pepper, chopped into little cubes
- 2 kale stalks, ribs removed
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- Bunch of basil
- EVOO
- Pinch of red pepper chili flakes
- Parmesan 1/4 cup + more for sprinkling on top
- Starch water
Directions:
In a large pot bring water to a boil with a generous amount of salt. When water has begun to boil, cook pasta according to the package.
In a medium skilled, heat EVOO. When the EVOO has heated toss in your peppers, let them cook for about 3-5 minutes. Add your kale, basil, garlic, green onions and chili flakes. Once the spinach and kale have wilted, turn the heat to your lowest temperate.
Dump your water once the spaghetti has finished cooking but leave a bit of the starch water to toss into your vegetables since this will be the base for your sauce. Toss the water into the pan and add the parmesan. Mix well. Add your pasta, make sure it's well coated.
Plate and top with parmesan, and voila!
I know this was a big post, but I really hope you like it. I had so much fun making each and every one of these dishes and the tastes' my palette go to experience was just... there are no words for it, until you've had it you will then know what I am talking about!
Enjoy!
*Note: this was uncooked. I was making them to freeze, these freeze really well, up to a six or so more months.
For this I used the sweet potato gnocchi I made. I simply browned butter, boiled the gnocchi, when they were done I tossed them into the butter and added some brie. This was such a rich dish, but it was absolutely fantastic. I love those fantastic orange pillows and when added with buttery goodness with cheesy goodness, oh boy, match made in heaven!
Enjoy!
I had never had oven roasted broccoli before... well I mean I am new to the whole eating broccoli. Until just a few months ago when I was willing to try broccoli I had always turned them down because they tasted like dirty feet to me. I'm not sure why, but now, I am hooked on broccoli, I could probably eat it at every meal, I'm serious, in an omelette for breakfast, in a quiche for lunch, in some risotto for dinner, with some dip as a snack, etc... the possibilities are endless. Having your broccoli roasted in the oven is just, it's wow. It makes the flavours that much richer, I have to admit a few of my small pieces because a little burnt (which I still ate because the crunch was awesome) but wow they had such a punch of flavour it was delicious. The ingredients for this were so simple but they made a really big impact on the dish. This was a great side dish and will definitely be made again as well as tried with different ingredients to see how it holds up being roasted! If you've never had broccoli roasted you definitely need to try this out!
