Don't be intimidated by making risotto. It's actually pretty darn easy and it doesn't take too long to make either. This is a perfect dish to use some of your favorite summer vegetables, so go for it!
Ingredients:
1C Arborio Rice
1/2C White Wine
32oz Vegetable Stock (or Water)
1 Yellow Onion
2 Garlic Cloves
10oz Mushrooms - We used Shiitake & Portobello
1/2lb Asparagus
Instructions:
1) First, chop the onion and mince the garlic, then set aside. Slice the mushrooms into smaller pieces and set them aside as well. In a non-stick sauté pan on medium-heat, cook the mushrooms for about 5 minutes, or until they are nicely brown. Remove from heat and set the mushrooms aside for later use.
2) Next, start the blanching process for the asparagus. In a medium sized pot bring the water to a boil. Cut the asparagus into 2" pieces and place in the boiling water, when ready. Let the asparagus cook for 2-4 minutes, or until they are bright green. While the asparagus is cooking, prepare the ice bath for the next step. Fill a large bowl with cool water and add several ice cubes, so that the water is cold. When the asparagus is finished, transfer the asparagus to the cold water bowl. Let the asparagus soak for a few minutes. Take them out and place into a dry bowl.
3) Now in a medium sized pot on low heat, add the 32oz vegetable stock (or water) and allow it to simmer.
4) In a large non-stick pot on medium heat, sauté the onion and the garlic for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Next, add in the rice and cook for about one minute. Stir often and be careful not to burn the rice. This will help toast the rice. Now, add in the wine and stir until it is completely absorbed and evaporated. NOTE: the rice absorbs the wine flavor and the alcohol cooks off)
5) Once the wine is absorbed and evaporated, ladle 1C of warm stock into the big pot. Stir frequently to prevent anything from sticking to the pot. Once the stock is absorbed, ladle another 1C of stock into the pot and stir. Do this repeatedly.
6) Check the texture of the rice. It should be slightly firm in the center, but not crunchy. If it's still too firm for your taste, add more stock (or water).
7) Fold in the cooked mushrooms and the asparagus. Season with salt and pepper. We also topped ours with fresh dill. Serve and enjoy!
Serves 2
Total Time: 1 Hour
Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts
Friday, December 30, 2016
Monday, August 1, 2016
Vegetable Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
Vegetables
1 Yellow Squash
1 Zucchini
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Yellow Onion
2T Balsamic Vinegar
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Pesto
1/2C Basil
8oz Dried Tomatoes
1/4C Roasted Almonds
3-4 Garlic Cloves
Juice of 1/2 a Lemon
Rotini Noodles
Directions
First, cook the rotini noodles according to package instructions. Then, pre-heat the oven to 425F. Now, dice all of the vegetables and put them in a large bowl. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir everything together so that it is mixed evenly. Spread the vegetables on a large non-stick baking sheet. Sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste. Roast the vegetables for 45 minutes. For the pesto, add all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it is blended. Set aside. Once the noodles are fully cooked, drain the noodles with a colander but save the drained water! Transfer the cooked noodles into a large bowl and stir in the pesto. You may add a 1/2C (or more) of the reserved water to help mix the noodles with the pesto. Once the vegetable are finished, add and stir in the vegetables. Stir together and serve!
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Dope Beet Balls
These are not your grandma’s meatballs, these are not your frozen
variety store bought veggie meat balls, these are not even your friend’s
pinterest find beet balls, these are serious.
This uses twice the percentage of beets of any other recipe I’ve found,
because we’re all about dat beet. These
are fantastic in pasta, meatball sub, in a wrap, or even atop a salad. So if you’re ready for something a little
more serious, LET THE BEET ROCK! (Black Eyed Peas)
Serves 4, prep/cook time 1 hour
Ingredients:
3 medium-large beets
2 cups mushrooms (any kind)
5 cloves garlic
1 medium yellow onion (or red)
¼ cup nutritional yeast
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp sage
½ tsp thyme
1.5 tsp fennel seeds
1 cup walnuts (or other nuts)
(for pasta, optional)
1 lbs whole grain pasta
Fresh basil leaves
Marinara sauce
Directions:
1)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2) Sauté mushrooms in a pan (no need for any spices at this
time). Once the mushrooms are cooked, drain
the broth (save for later) and pat the mushrooms dry with a cloth.
3) Peel beets (careful not to stain your clothes or cutting surface
with beet blood!)
4)
Place the beets, onion, and minced garlic into food
processor. If not using a food
processor, use grater or chop all ingredients as finely as possible and combine
in a large mixing bowl. A blender also
works, it’s just more labor and time intensive.
5)
Mix up in the food processor, but don’t completely pulverize
anything yet.
6)
Add in the nuts and nutritional yeast to the mixture and give it a
few more good mixes.
7)
Add in spices (oregano, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper,
sage, thyme and fennel seeds). Feel free
to add or subtract spices based on your personal preference. Crushed red pepper, tandoori or even cumin
could also be interesting.
8)
Mix up the ingredients to get a nice homogeneous consistency, but
still mostly dry. If the mixture becomes
too wet, add in some nut meal, nut flour, or oat flour to balance it out.
9)
Prepare a cooking sheet with parchment paper (or non-stick spray
if you don’t have parchment paper).
Using a kitchen spoon, take spoonful’s of the beetastic mixture and roll
into ball (I like them to be about 1-½” in diameter).
10)
Place the beets in the oven and cook for 35-40 minutes, or until a
nice crisp texture forms on the outside.
The insides will still be soft when cooked as you don’t want to dry
these out too much.
11)
Serve with your favorite pasta, in a beet ball sub, or atop a
salad. Enjoy!
Serves 4, prep/cook
time 1 hour
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Plant Pride Pizza
Dough:
Prep time: 30 minutes
Rise time: 5-12 hours
Makes: 8 servings (four medium
sized pizzas)
Pizza:
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 10-15 minutes
Serves: 2 per medium sized pizzas
Dough Ingredients:
4.5 Cups Whole wheat flour
(all-purpose, bread, or pastry flour is fine)
1.75 Teaspoons Instant Yeast
2 Cups cold water
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil (for
coating finished dough)
Directions:
Making the Dough
1) Get
together your dough making tools. Large
bowl, mixing spoon, powered hand mixer or stand mixer (if you are lucky enough
to have one!) large clean surface and measuring spoons. We normally just use a handheld mixer,
although we’ve done just fine literally mixing by hand and a large mixing
spoon. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t
have all the fancy bread making equipment, we don’t either!
2) Dump
the 2 cups water and 1.75 Teaspoons of Instant Yeast into the bowl and stir
vigorously. Allow the yeast to begin to
froth up a bit and absorb some of the water.
A few minutes should be fine.
3) Add
in the flour one cup at a time, vigorously mixing at each interval. Try to get a consistent mixture each time
before adding the next cup. Watch out
for little “clots” of dry flour forming.
Break up those clots so the dough is consistent.
4) The
dough should become slightly sticky.
Feel free to add more water or flour to adjust. At this point you should be able to mix the
dough into one giant glob. I like to
sprinkle a little more yeast on at this point to ensure a good rise.
5) Sprinkle
some flour on that large surface and toss the glob onto it. Kneed it by hand until it’s a smooth
continuous piece. You should not be able
to easily tear it apart and it should start to look like a solid mound of
dough, as opposed to many striations as if it were a croissant. No need to overdo it though, trust your
instincts.
6) Cut
the dough into pieces based on how many pies you want to make. I
usually prefer to cut it in four pieces, which each make a medium sized
pizza. If you wanted to go crazy and
make one table sized pizza, or go halves and make two XL pizzas, go for
it! 4th (medium size) and 6th
(small size / kid’s pizza) are the most common though. Once you’ve cut the pieces up, roll them into
their own balls trying to get a nice and even consistency.
7) Coat
a baking dish or baking pan with olive oil (approximately 1 tablespoon should
be enough for the whole dish). Roll the
balls in the oil to get a nice, consistent coating. Don’t get carried away. These should not be swimming in oil, just a
light coat. Place the balls evenly
within the baking dish. These babies are
going to grow!
8) Place
some plastic wrap, or a damp towel on top of the dish and
set aside. If you leave the dish out at
room temperature, it will probably rise within 5 hours. However, this time greatly depends on the
temperature, humidity, and even pressure!
Remember the Ideal Gas Law (PV=nRT)?
There’s lot of other interesting Chemistry going on, but basically the
environment which you’re making dough has a large impact on the rise. Play around with your timing and temperature. If you prefer to leave it in the fridge, that
is fine but it will take longer to rise, potentially double or triple the room
temperature time.
9) Once
the dough has risen to the optimal level (about twice the original size and
generally softer and fluffier), take it and wrap it up in individual bags or plastic wrap if
you’re not immediately using it. The
dough can be stored in the fridge for a few days or several months in the
freezer.
Making a Pizza:
1) When
you’re ready to bake a pie, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and
roll it out using a wooden roller or anything else round and smooth (metal
water bottles or wine bottles work well too).
Feel free to toss out the pizza too.
It’s actually not as hard as it looks. YouTube is your friend. You’re basically playing around with the elasticity of the dough and
breaking those little bonds so the dough expands, while keeping the larger
bonds intact.
2) Preheat
your oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit or 245 degrees Celsius.
3) Place
your pizza dough on either a pizza stone or a lightly oiled upside down cooking
sheet. Yes, I said that right, upside
down! It actually works surprisingly
well.
4) At
this point you have a few options. If
you like a crispier, more classical Italian crust, curl up the edges of the
crust how you want them and pre-bake the crust for 4 minutes. If you don’t want the crispier old style
crust, simply add your sauce and toppings now and curl the crust when you’re
done.
5) With
sauces, you can go a few different directions.
Most of the time we prefer to use a rich marinara, tomato and basil
style sauce, although any red sauce would likely work. Another option is to use hummus, or even just
a light mixture of garlic and white wine.
6) One
thing to keep in mind with toppings, you want them as dry as possible. If you’re using mushrooms, peppers, carrots,
olives especially, make sure to press them out to squeeze out as much moisture
as possible. Preferably, most of the
moisture should come from only your sauce and not the veggie toppings “sweating”
onto the crust. This could mess up the
baking of the crust, although pre-baking helps alleviate this problem as well.
7) If you want to use vegan cheese, stick to the least processed ones as possible, or make your own. If you like that Parmesan taste on top of a finished pizza, we imitate that by using nutritional yeast or ground cashews post-baking.
8) You really can’t go wrong with any vegan toppings, just keep in mind the sweating and shrinking. A few of our favorite topping combinations are listed below:
7) If you want to use vegan cheese, stick to the least processed ones as possible, or make your own. If you like that Parmesan taste on top of a finished pizza, we imitate that by using nutritional yeast or ground cashews post-baking.
8) You really can’t go wrong with any vegan toppings, just keep in mind the sweating and shrinking. A few of our favorite topping combinations are listed below:
a.
The Garden Classic: Tomato and basil sauce, spinach, garlic,
carrots, mushrooms, Kalamata Olives, Basil
b.
The Garlic Lovers: Garlic and wine sauce,
spinach, kale, garlic, garlic and more garlic
c.
Pizza Margarita: Tomato and basil sauce, vegan
mozzarella style cheese, basil
d.
Big Green – Spicy Arrabbiata sauce, spinach,
broccoli, basil, and sun dried tomatoes
9) Place
your pizza in the oven and cook for 10 minutes.
Every oven is different, so you may need to play around with the times
and temperatures to reach your ideal crust texture.
10) Have
fun and Enjoy!
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Basil Avocado Pasta
Here's a super quick and easy recipe to satisfy your taste buds during a busy work week. It's a nice creamy dish with a hint of lemon.
Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Noodles
1/2 of a Lemon, Juice
1/4 of a Lemon, Zest
1/4C Basil, Chopped
3 Garlic Cloves
1T Water
Pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions:
Cook the noodles according to package instructions. Once cooked, drain and set aside in a large bowl. In a food processor (or a high speed blender), add all of the other ingredients and blend until smooth. In the large bowl, mix the sauce with the noodles. Serve immediately!
Serves 2
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Presto Magic - Oil and Dairy Free Pesto Sauce!
This is a really quick and tasty Pesto that goes nicely on
Pasta or sandwiches.
Serves 4, prep/cook
time 20 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh basil
¾ cups pine nuts (or other nut)
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 cloves garlic
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
(for pasta, optional)
1 lbs whole grain pasta
Kalamata olives
Fresh basil leaves
Roasted red peppers
Directions:
1) Heat water to a boil if making
pasta
2) Combine basil, pine nuts, lemon
juice, garlic and nutritional yeast in a food processor or blender and mix on
the lowest setting until the pesto takes on the desired consistency. If it's too watery, you can add in some more nutritional yeast or fresh baby spinach. Set aside when you've got a good consistency and taste.
3) Add whole grain pasta to boiling
water and cook as directed
4) When the pasta is done, drain
from water and combine in a large mixing bowl with the pesto sauce. Stir vigorously to ensure the pesto is evenly
distributed.
5) Serve with optional toppings of olives,
additional fresh basil, or roasted peppers.
Enjoy!
Prep/cook time: 20
minutes
Serves: 4
Monday, March 9, 2015
"Raise the Roof" Lasagna
Engine 2's "Raise the Roof" Lasagna is a highly nutritious meal that will definitely impress your guests. This unique twist on the Italian classic provides many different vegetables to satisfy your immense palate. The sweet potato is definitely the MVP in this dish as it helps provide a creamy texture. Give it a go and over-dose on nutrition with this lasagna!
Be sure to check out our other recipe on lasagna, by clicking here!
Be sure to check out our other recipe on lasagna, by clicking here!
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 small head of garlic, all cloves chopped or pressed
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 head broccoli, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 can corn, rinsed and drained
1 package tofu
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon rosemary
28oz pasta sauce (low sodium)
whole grain lasagna noodles
16 ounces spinach, roughly chopped
2 sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
6 roma tomatoes, sliced thin
1 cup raw cashews, ground
1 small head of garlic, all cloves chopped or pressed
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 head broccoli, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 can corn, rinsed and drained
1 package tofu
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon rosemary
28oz pasta sauce (low sodium)
whole grain lasagna noodles
16 ounces spinach, roughly chopped
2 sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
6 roma tomatoes, sliced thin
1 cup raw cashews, ground
Directions:
1) Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook your noodles by package directions, and set aside.
2) Sauté the onion and garlic on high heat for 3 minutes in a wok or nonstick pan. Add the mushrooms and cook until the onions are golden brown and the mushrooms give up their liquid. Remove them to a large bowl with a slotted spoon. Reserve the mushroom liquid in the pan.
3) Sauté the broccoli and carrots for 5 minutes and add to the mushroom bowl.
4) Sauté the peppers and corn until just beginning to soften. Add them to the vegetable bowl.
5) Drain the tofu by wrapping in paper towels. Break it up directly in the towel and mix into the vegetable bowl.
6) Add spices to the vegetable bowl and combine.
Assemble:
Cover the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch casserole with a layer of sauce.
Add a layer of noodles.
Cover the noodles with sauce. This way the noodles cook in the oven, saving time and energy.
Spread the vegetable mixture over the sauced noodles.
Cover with a layer of noodles and another dressing of sauce.
Add the spinach to the second layer of sauced noodles.
Cover the spinach with the mashed sweet potatoes.
Add another layer of sauce, the final layer of noodles, and a last topping of sauce. Cover the lasagna with thinly sliced roma tomatoes.
Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
Remove the foil, sprinkle with the cashews, and return to the oven for 15 minutes. Let lasagna sit for 15 minutes before serving.
Cover the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch casserole with a layer of sauce.
Add a layer of noodles.
Cover the noodles with sauce. This way the noodles cook in the oven, saving time and energy.
Spread the vegetable mixture over the sauced noodles.
Cover with a layer of noodles and another dressing of sauce.
Add the spinach to the second layer of sauced noodles.
Cover the spinach with the mashed sweet potatoes.
Add another layer of sauce, the final layer of noodles, and a last topping of sauce. Cover the lasagna with thinly sliced roma tomatoes.
Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
Remove the foil, sprinkle with the cashews, and return to the oven for 15 minutes. Let lasagna sit for 15 minutes before serving.
Prep time is about 35 minutes.
Serves 4-7.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Tofu with Roasted Peppers Pasta
Sauce:
3 Bell Peppers (Any color you'd like)
12oz Tofu (Medium)
3 Garlic Cloves
1.5T Red Wine Vinegar
1/4C Nutritional Yeast
1t Red Pepper Flakes
Pinch of salt and Pepper, to taste
Pasta:
4 Zucchini
1C Basil
First, let's roast the peppers. Then start draining the tofu. Place the tofu between two thick towels and put something heavy on top, like a cast iron pot. Let it drain for about 15-30 minutes. With your spiral vegetable slicer, grind the zucchini into noodles. If you don't have a spiral slicer, just slice the zucchini into thin strips (like noodles). Put these noodles aside. Now, in a food processor, place the drained tofu, roasted peppers, garlic cloves, red wine vinegar, nutritional yeast, red pepper flakes, pepper and salt. Pulse all ingredients until smooth. Lastly, heat up a large non-stick pot on the stove at medium heat. Start by sautéing the zucchini noodles by stirring frequently. After 5-10 minutes, add in the tofu sauce. Once warm, stir in the basil and it is now ready to be served!
Serves about 4 people
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Tofu-Spinach Lasagna
1/3C sliced Almonds
1.5C Basil Leaves, packed
2T Water
Half juice of Lemon
3 Garlic Cloves, chopped
Splash of Apple Cider Vinegar
Tofu Ricotta:
1/4C Sunflower Seeds, raw hulled
14oz Extra-Firm Tofu
3 Garlic Cloves
1/4C Nutritional Yeast
Juice of one (1) lemon
Salt to Taste
Marinara Sauce:
1 Yellow Onion (Medium)
1 Carrot (Large)
Roasted Garlic Bulb
1 can of No Salt Added Chopped Tomatoes (15oz can)
1 can of Fire Roasted Chopped Tomatoes (15oz can)
1t oregano
1t Thyme, dried
Pinch of Pepper Flakes, Cayenne Pepper and Black Pepper
Salt to Taste
Stuffing:
6C Spinach
16oz Mushrooms, Bella
Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles
Toppings: Fresh Basil, Sliced Tomatoes, and/or extra Basil Pesto
Before we delve into the cooking process, let's help speed things up.
1) Start by draining the tofu. Place the tofu between two thick towels and put something heavy on top, like a cast iron pot. Let it drain for about 15-30 minutes.
2) Another thing we can do it roast our garlic. Preheat the oven to 400F. Peel off the loose skin. Cut off the head so the garlic is exposed at the top. Place a piece of tin foil underneath the garlic and wrap it. Place in a small oven-safe dish or muffin tin. Let it cook for 30-40 minutes.
3) Cook your noodles! Look for directions on your packaging. Remember, you will have 3 layers of noodles in a 8X10 casserole dish, so cook enough!
Ok, let's get going!
Start out by making the basil pesto. In a food processor, combine all ingredients: almonds, basil leaves, water, lemon juice, ACV and garlic cloves. Pulse until everything is finely cut up. Add more water, if it's a little thick. Transfer the pesto to a small bowl and set aside for later use.
Next, let's make the tofu ricotta. Remember the tofu? It's probably finished draining, so let's grab it. Put all the ingredients, including the tofu, into a food processor. Again, if it's a little thick you may want to add water. Transfer this ricotta into a small bowl and set aside for later use.
Thirdly, make the marinara sauce. Start by roughly chopping up the onion and carrot. In a large non-stick pot over medium-heat, add in the onion and the carrot. Once the onions become translucent it's time to add in everything else: tomatoes and the spices (except the garlic). Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and let everything simmer for about 20-30 minutes.
Now, let's get chopping again to make the stuffing. Chop up the spinach and the mushrooms. The spinach should be okay if it's in strips, and the mushrooms could be about a quarter-size. It's unbelievable how much spinach we use, but it will all shrink down! So, don't worry about measuring to a tee. It might be better to have a bit more! Once everything is cut, start by heating a large non-stick pot on medium-heat. When ready, add in the spinach and the mushrooms, stirring often. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, or when everything shrinks down!
Now, it's time to build the lasagna! Good work getting everything completed. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. In your 8X10 casserole dish, spread a little bit of marinara sauce on the bottom. Spread around the entire base. Then lay in the first layer of lasagna noodles. Add about half of the stuffing (mushroom and spinach) and half of the ricotta. Spread evenly. Then, another small batch of the marinara sauce. Top with lasagna noodles. Finish by copying this method. Lastly, drizzle any leftover marinara sauce on the top. Then, spread your basil pesto on top. Top with freshly, cut tomatoes (if you would like). Apply foil to the top and cook for about 30 minutes. Then, check it and remove the foil. Cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until the noodles are brown on the edges. Take out of the oven and let it cool before eating.
Top with fresh basil, and enjoy!
Prep time: 1.5 hr
Serves about 4 people
1t Thyme, dried
Pinch of Pepper Flakes, Cayenne Pepper and Black Pepper
Salt to Taste
Stuffing:
6C Spinach
16oz Mushrooms, Bella
Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles
Toppings: Fresh Basil, Sliced Tomatoes, and/or extra Basil Pesto
Before we delve into the cooking process, let's help speed things up.
1) Start by draining the tofu. Place the tofu between two thick towels and put something heavy on top, like a cast iron pot. Let it drain for about 15-30 minutes.
2) Another thing we can do it roast our garlic. Preheat the oven to 400F. Peel off the loose skin. Cut off the head so the garlic is exposed at the top. Place a piece of tin foil underneath the garlic and wrap it. Place in a small oven-safe dish or muffin tin. Let it cook for 30-40 minutes.
3) Cook your noodles! Look for directions on your packaging. Remember, you will have 3 layers of noodles in a 8X10 casserole dish, so cook enough!
Ok, let's get going!
Start out by making the basil pesto. In a food processor, combine all ingredients: almonds, basil leaves, water, lemon juice, ACV and garlic cloves. Pulse until everything is finely cut up. Add more water, if it's a little thick. Transfer the pesto to a small bowl and set aside for later use.
Next, let's make the tofu ricotta. Remember the tofu? It's probably finished draining, so let's grab it. Put all the ingredients, including the tofu, into a food processor. Again, if it's a little thick you may want to add water. Transfer this ricotta into a small bowl and set aside for later use.
Thirdly, make the marinara sauce. Start by roughly chopping up the onion and carrot. In a large non-stick pot over medium-heat, add in the onion and the carrot. Once the onions become translucent it's time to add in everything else: tomatoes and the spices (except the garlic). Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and let everything simmer for about 20-30 minutes.
Now, let's get chopping again to make the stuffing. Chop up the spinach and the mushrooms. The spinach should be okay if it's in strips, and the mushrooms could be about a quarter-size. It's unbelievable how much spinach we use, but it will all shrink down! So, don't worry about measuring to a tee. It might be better to have a bit more! Once everything is cut, start by heating a large non-stick pot on medium-heat. When ready, add in the spinach and the mushrooms, stirring often. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, or when everything shrinks down!
Now, it's time to build the lasagna! Good work getting everything completed. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. In your 8X10 casserole dish, spread a little bit of marinara sauce on the bottom. Spread around the entire base. Then lay in the first layer of lasagna noodles. Add about half of the stuffing (mushroom and spinach) and half of the ricotta. Spread evenly. Then, another small batch of the marinara sauce. Top with lasagna noodles. Finish by copying this method. Lastly, drizzle any leftover marinara sauce on the top. Then, spread your basil pesto on top. Top with freshly, cut tomatoes (if you would like). Apply foil to the top and cook for about 30 minutes. Then, check it and remove the foil. Cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until the noodles are brown on the edges. Take out of the oven and let it cool before eating.
Top with fresh basil, and enjoy!
Prep time: 1.5 hr
Serves about 4 people
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Smoked Tomato Pasta with Creamy Cashew Sauce
1 pound whole grain pasta (we prefer Rigatoni, Fusilli, Farfalle, or Penne but anything works)
Sauce:
3/4C Cashews
1/3C Nutritional Yeast
4 Garlic Cloves (chopped or minced)
2t Oregano
1t Paprika
1.5C Vegetable Broth
16oz Fire Roasted Tomatoes, Diced
Optional Toppings:
Fresh basil, sun dried tomatoes, Za’atar, or Turmeric
Place the cashews into a bowl of water and allow them to
soak for approximately an hour. Begin
cooking the pasta of your choice. Place
1.5 cup of vegetable broth and cashews in your blender or food processor and
blend on high until a milky consistency forms.
Add the diced and fire roasted tomatoes and blend on low for a
minute. Finally, add in the nutritional
yeast, oregano, paprika and garlic and blend on low until the sauce develops a
homogeneous consistency. If the sauce is
a good consistency, heat on low in a sauce pan until your pasta is done. If the sauce appears too thin for your
liking, pour the mixture into a pan and cook on medium heat until the excess
liquid boils off and you reach a viscosity of your liking.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain the pasta and place it back
into the pot you cooked it in. Pour in
the sauce and mix together to get a nice coating on all the pasta.
Serve with fresh basil, sun dried tomatoes, or some of our
favorite spices like Turmeric or Za’atar.
Prep time is about 25 minutes
Serves 6
Monday, January 26, 2015
Easy Basil Spaghetti
Some days seem too busy for a home-cooked meal, but this is a fast recipe to please everyone in the household! Make sure to keep these items in your pantry for a rainy day because we all know how quickly plans can change.
1 Can of Crushed Tomatoes (28oz)
1C Mushrooms, diced
3 Garlic Cloves, chopped
1/2 Yellow Onion, chopped
1t Dried Oregano
1t Pepper
1t Red Pepper Flakes
1C Fresh Basil, (stems removed & chopped)
1/2C Nutritional Yeast3/4C Walnuts, chopped
Whole-Wheat Spaghetti Noodles (or, Zucchini Noodles)
Start by cooking the spaghetti noodles, as directed on the packaging. Then, chop the onion and the garlic. Heat up a non-stick pan on medium heat. Add in the onion and the garlic and cook until the onions are golden brown. Then, add in the oregano, pepper and the red pepper flakes. Cook for another minute. Now, add the canned tomatoes, nutritional yeast, mushrooms and chopped basil. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it boils, bring to a simmer on low-heat. Add in your walnuts now and let it thicken up for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over pasta with fresh basil.
Serves about 3 people
Friday, January 23, 2015
Fakeccine Alfredo
Impress your loved one with a romantic dinner, just make sure it's vegan! Here's a fantastic twist to a popular Italian dish.
1lb Whole-Grain Fettuccine Noodles (Dried)
1.5C Coconut Milk
1/2C Raw Cashew Nuts
1/2C Water
2T Nutritional Yeast
2T Lemon Juice
1t Salt (to Taste)
dash of garlic powder
1lb Whole-Grain Fettuccine Noodles (Dried)
1.5C Coconut Milk
1/2C Raw Cashew Nuts
1/2C Water
2T Nutritional Yeast
2T Lemon Juice
1t Salt (to Taste)
dash of garlic powder
Cook the noodles according to the package instructions. Next, combine coconut milk, cashews, water, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt and garlic powder into a high-speed blender, or a food processor. Blend until smooth. Now, heat up a medium-sized, non-stick pot on the stove. Pour the mixture into the pot and cook on medium heat, stirring frequently. Once the sauce thickens up, remove the pot from the heat. The sauce is now done! Once the noodels are down, add your sauce and garnish with your favorite herb.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Serves about three people
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