Mushroom and Artichoke Lasagna

I think this will be my last new slowcooker recipe for awhile. It was ok, but I'm ready to go back to cooking in the afternoons.

This recipe came out of the cookbook I mentioned in a previous post. I thought it looked good but not terribly lowfat. I reduced where I could - lowfat cheeses.

I started by chopping 4 portabellas, 2 onions, 2 cans of artichoke hearts, 5 cloves of garlic, and I thawed a container of frozen spinach.

I sauteed the onions first, then the mushrooms and garlic until the mushrooms began releasing liquid, and then I added the artichoke hearts.


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The recipe called for fresh baby spinach as one of the layers, but I decided to cut corners and costs by using a box of frozen spinach. I squeezed it dry and mixed it in with the ricotta so I could spread them together. One less layer! I also shredded 2 cups of lowfat mozzarella and 1/2 cup Parm/Reggiano.

I sprayed the crock with nonstick spray and then put my first layer of oven-ready lasagna noodles.


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Then half the spinach/ricotta...

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Half the mushroom mixture...

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And 1/3 of the mozzarella and parm/regg...

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I repeated the layers and then topped with one last layer of pasta and the rest of the shredded cheese. ETA: I POURED 3/4 CUP OF WHITE WINE AND THE LIQUID FROM THE SAUTEED MUSHROOMS OVER THE TOP OF THIS TO GIVE IT PLENTY OF MOISTURE TO COOK IN. I ALSO ADDED MORE WINE AT ABOUT THE 3 HOUR MARK.

At 6.5 hours, I turned it to "keep warm" because it was getting VERY brown on top. I thought this was good - with this much cheese, how could it not be? But the whole thing tasted a tad overcooked to me. Well, actually, the brown crispy stuff on the top was delicious. If I were doing it again, I would probably double the frozen spinach (or maybe try the fresh), try making tofu ricotta (I want to try this!), and I'd make it in the morning, refrigerate, and then bake in the oven.

It made plenty of leftovers for lunch, and I can't wait for my second helping today!


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Next week I'm going to try some new things out of Clean Eating Magazine. And Carla told me you can buy fresh pizza dough at Whole Foods, so I'm hoping to try that this Friday night.

What's on the Menu? 2/25-2/28

Mon - lentil tacos

Tues - Mushroom and Artichoke Lasagna (slowcooker)
Salad

Wed - salmon w/mustard cream
broccoli
butternut squash

Thu - turkey chili (Mom's Night Out with the running mommies)

The black bean soup that I made last week...it wasn't a big hit with me. It was a slow-cooker "dump it all in" recipe. Very few of those are spectacular, to me.


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If I made it again, I would use dried beans instead of canned - the canned got mushy when they were in the cooker for so long. I would chop the onion and carrot by hand into large chunks - I shredded them in the food processor. And I wouldn't put in the two tsp. of sugar that it calls for - I don't know why you'd want a soup like this to be sweet. I did add a squeeze of lime, and that was a nice addition.


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House Update : We've had 13 showings. No offers. Still plugging along. It has been on the market 3 weeks now.

Moussaka with Tofu Topping

Last week, I went and bought a slow-cooker cookbook. It seems like lots of the house showing calls are going to be in the afternoon, so I'm hoping this will help. I looked at two, and I chose 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes. This is kind of a problem for posting recipes on the blog, but I'm going to do the best I can.

I chose this b/c it has eggplant and chickpeas - two of my favorites. The eggplants at the store look nice lately, so I thought it would be a good time for this.


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This cookbook is not about super-easy, open cans and throw everything in the slow-cooker. They seem to take a little preparation in the mornings - or most of them can be made ahead the night before and refrigerated. Each page has instructions in the sidebar for assembling the night before.

I started with two pretty eggplants.

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These had to be peeled and "sweated" in order to take any bitterness out. I did this early this morning and let them sweat while I was doing breakfast and getting the morning started. Following the instructions in the cookbook, I cubed the peeled eggplant, placed on paper towels, salted, and let it sit for an hour.

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When that was finished, I rinsed it and squeezed it dry on fresh paper towels.

Meanwhile, I chopped two onions in the food processor.

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Then I browned the eggplant in a skillet - using a non-stick skillet and much less oil than the recipe called for.

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The "browned" eggplant.

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Then I sauteed the onion, garlic, oregano, cumin seeds, salt, and pepper.

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Then added the chickpeas.

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Then I was ready to start layering. I did...tomato sauce, eggplant, chickpea mixture, etc. for several layers.

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Next, it was time for the tofu topping. I combined 1/2 cup shredded Parmeggiano-Reggiano, firm tofu (the regular grocery store kind), eggs, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a blender.

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That didn't work too well, so I switched to the food processor. That worked much better.

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Then I spread the topping on...

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The recipe called for a tea towel to be placed between the stoneware and the cover so that condensation wouldn't drip on the topping while it was cooking. I'd never done this before, and I was skeptical. But I did it, and it worked great!

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This is what the final product looked like after 8 hours. Very exciting to take the towel off when you couldn't watch it cooking for all that time.

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This got a big thumbs up! Wonderful flavors, and I loved the textures of the eggplant and chickpeas together. No bitterness at all, but I've never noticed that with eggplant, anyway. The tofu topping was wonderful - it cooked to a very bread-like consistency. This one was a little work, but it was really worth it. We're excited about left-overs tomorrow!

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