Deconstructed Lasagna

I need to buy a lottery ticket or something because lately, I've been pretty darn lucky. Last week, I got to see my bestie Erin three times within a four day period....this is UNHEARD OF with our busy schedules. Not to mention that neither she nor I are phone talkers so we do most of our communicating through email and her sweet husby Ryan (whom I work with and also happen to adore and have a killer friendship with).

Erin and Ryan had me over to their house for one last dinner and hurrah before they move into their first home this upcoming weekend (it's the cutest house EVER and has personality and pizzaz just like them!!!). Since I've known Erin (going on 8 years now WOW!), she's really branched out and explored in her cooking but like me, we both gravitate towards clean, simple flavors. This was a Martha Stewart recipe she found (I can't remember where!) and it really is sensational. Traditional lasagna is typically heavy, calorically damaging, and takes hours to prepare. This was light, full of flavor, and as you can see by the picture above, looks just as good as it tastes. 

Erin did most of the prep work before I arrived and I had the pleasure of sitting at her table (when I wasn't getting in her way to take pictures) and drank wine while she bustled around and finished things up. The globs of creamy deliciousness in the picture are ricotta cheese, the shaved bits are fresh pecorino. I LOVE pecorino cheese -- it has such a nice bite to it when it's hardened and it is equally amazing fresh with a little drizzle of honey...mmmmmm.......

If you're a garlic lover, this is a great recipe for you because this uses seven cloves. Torn fresh basil and sweet tomatoes round out the other flavors with a slight drizzle of buttery high quality olive oil on top. 

I scraped the bowl. Really.

Red and yellow cherub tomatoes, 7 cloves of pressed garlic

Queen of the kitchen!

Finished product!

Deconstructed Lasagna With Ricotta And Tomatoes

• 1 Tbs. + 1 Tsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 7 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (Erin pressed hers; I'll probably use minced when I make this.)
• 3 Cups mixed red and yellow cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (2 pints)
• 1/2 Tsp. coarse salt 
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2/3 Cup chicken stock
• 8 Lasagna noodles
• 2/3 Cup small basil leaves (Erin tore hers)
• 1/2 Cup reduced fat ricotta cheese
• 1 oz. Pecorino Romano cheese, shaved

Heat 1 Tbs. oil in a high sided skillet over medium heat. Cook garlic until pale golden, about 3 minutes. Add 2  cups tomatoes and 1/2 tsp. salt. Cook until soft, about 7 minutes. Add chicken stock. Simmer until sauce-like, about 1 minute. Add remaining cup of tomatoes. Cook until warm, about 1-2 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions until al dente. Drain.

Toss pasta in skillet to coat. Stir in basil, reserving some for garnish.

Divide pasta among 4 plates, top with any remaining sauce. Dot with ricotta cheese and drizzle any remaining olive oil. Top with shaved pecorino cheese and remaining basil. Sprinkle with pepper.

Nutrition Information:

357 calories, 3g saturated fat, 7g unsaturated fat, 15mg cholesterol, 52g carbohydrates, 304mg sodium, 16g protein, 4g fiber

* Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Annie's Mom's Clam Sauce

Annie from Annie's-Eats does it all. Wife, mother of two young children, doctor...I have absolutely no clue how she manages everything and yet still finds time to bake and cook and blog all about it! This woman is an inspiration!!! I have a not-so-secret-foodie-crush on her and have forwarded the link to her blog many times over to friends. :)

One of my favorite things about Annie's blog is that she has such a variety of recipes for all different skill levels. Since I am just getting back into the kitchen, I found a quick and easy recipe for clam sauce on her website that would be perfect for me to make during the week. I will say this though, as yummy as it was, I think I will tweak it next time by adding some herbs and wine to the sauce. Either way, the original was tasty!

Linguine with Clam Sauce

• 12 oz. linguine pasta
• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 (6.5 oz) cans minced clams, juices reserved
• ½ cup heavy cream (or half-and-half)
• Salt and pepper
• Grated Parmesan, for serving

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.  Cook pasta according to the package directions until al dente. Drain well. Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan, heat the olive oil and butter over medium-high heat until the butter is completely melted.

Add the garlic to the pan and sauté until golden and fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add the reserved clam juice to the pan, bring to a simmer, and reduce by about half.  With the heat on medium-low, stir in the clams and the heavy cream.  Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Portion the pasta into warmed serving bowls.  Spoon some of the sauce over the pasta and top with grated Parmesan, if desired.  Serve immediately.

* Borrowed from Annie's-Eats

Happy eating! :)

Birthday Pasta Dinner

One of my best friend's had a birthday last week and I made this yummy angel hair pasta dinner for her and brought the left overs for lunch today. I always go a little light on sauce but now that it's hot (Texas summers eesh), I try to keep things sauce free when I make pasta.

My apologies for the rotten picture -- the lighting is terrible in our office lunch room. :(

Lauren's Summer Pasta:

• 1 pkg. angel hair pasta
• ~2 cups of sun-dried tomatoes (I bought mine at the olive bar at HEB)
• 2 pkgs. of sliced mushrooms
• 0.5 cup pine nuts
• 1 small pkg. crumbled feta cheese
• 2 pkg. fresh basil, chopped (a little more than 2 cups total)
• 0.25 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 0.25 stick of unsalted butter
• splash of white wine
• 1.5 teaspoons minced garlic
• splash of chicken broth
• 2 Tbs. olive oil

In a large walled pan, melt butter and sautee garlic on med/low heat. Add mushrooms (one bag at a time) and stir. When mushrooms start to stick a little to the pan, splash in chicken broth and white wine. Add in sundried tomatoes, stir, cover and let simmer. Boil water for pasta, add in pasta when ready and stir constantly. After about 8 min. start checking pasta. It's ready when it's al dente (meaning slightly firm but definitely not crunchy). Add pine nuts to mushrooms and tomatoes, cover and simmer. Drain your pasta and set aside to be added to your mushrooms, pine nuts, and tomatoes. To make sure everything is well mixed, add your pasta serving at a time and toss. (My pan wasn't large enough to add all of the pasta so I ended up freezings about 3 cups of it.) Drizzle one tbs. of olive oil and sprinkle half of your parmesan cheese, toss, and repeat with the other tbs. of oil and remaining parmesan. Sprinkle feta cheese and chopped basil, toss well until all is blended. Serve immediately.

*My apologies for not having specific measurements. When I created this recipe, I just threw it all together hoping for the best (terrible I know!). The next time I make it, I will be sure to measure everything properly and then update this post.

Happy eating! <3