Crockpot Lasagna

I love a good a slow cooker recipe. It is so nice to be able to throw everything in a pot, let it cook for a few hours, and then enjoy supper! I've always made a lot of soups and desserts in the crockpot, but I was looking to make something different. A few years ago, a friend of mine said that she cooked spaghetti in her slow cooker, so I got the idea to make lasagna in the crockpot. It turned out very well and since then, I think I've mastered it and made it about as healthy (and economical) as lasagna can get (minus whole-wheat noodles- can't find lasagna ones ANYWHERE!).

What you'll need:

1.25 lbs. lean (Italian, if you can find it) ground turkey

1 box of oven-ready lasagna noodles

1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese made with 2%

1 15 oz. container of part-skim ricotta cheese

1 c. of shredded Parmesan cheese

1 tbsp. Italian seasoning

Salt and Pepper

This recipe will serve 5-6 people.

1. Begin by browning meat over medium-high heat in a pan on the stove. While that is cooking, in a medium bowl, mix together the ricotta, 1 1/4 c. mozzarella, 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, 2 tsp. of Italian seasoning, and a dash of salt and pepper.

2. Once turkey is done cooking, drain away extra liquid. Add in the jar of tomato sauce, reserving about 1/3 c. for the top of the lasagna. Stir together.

3. Get your crockpot and bowl of cheese near the stove for easy assembly. Start by spraying your crockpot with non-stick cooking spray. Add in a tiny amount of the meat and sauce mixture to the bottom, just enough to keep the noodles from burning.

4. Begin adding the layers. Start with the noodles. Break the lasagna noodles so that they fit as well as possible in the bottom. The next layer is the meat. Add meat and spread out. Then follow with the ricotta mixture and a sprinkle of the Italian seasoning. You want to keep your layers relatively thin so that the lasagna doesn't fall apart when you put it on a plate.

5. After the cheese, start again with the noodles. Continue with this until you've created 3 full layers. The 3 full layers should hold all of your meat and sauce mixture and all of the ricotta mixture.

6. Top the last layer with one last layer of noodles. Then add the reserved tomato sauce, the rest of mozzarella and parmesan cheeses, and one last sprinkle of italian seasoning (in that order) to make a cheesy topping.

7. Cook on high for 1 1/2-2 hours or on low for 3-4 hours.

Cooking in the crockpot always helps me de-stress and relax. I stood in the kitchen for only  about 15 minutes making this meal. I hope that you enjoy a night of (almost) no cooking and this lasagna!

Tomato Basil Pasta

Over the past few months, my husband and I have been trying to have a vegetarian meal one night a week. I know- to some people that is a crime! Being vegetarian is not necessarily healthy, but it is very economic and is healthy when done right. Since it is summer, vegetarian night has become one of my favorites. Veggies are just so darn good right now! This is also, yet another tomato and basil dish. I promise that with fall on the way, I'll stop posting about tomatoes. I will have to because our garden is slowing down and will be finished producing soon, but until then... I invite you to humor me with one more tomato dish and to try this vegetarian meal this week!

 

Here is one of my favorite mid-week vegetarian meals.

 

Tomato-Basil Pasta

1. Use this blog to to prepare your tomatoes. You need about 3-4 cups of raw, cut tomatoes. Follow the directions of the blog until your tomatoes are cooked. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil for pasta. Once boiling, add a dash of salt, one tsp. olive oil, and desired amount of pasta. I use whole-wheat pasta for the extra protein (something you need, but miss out on with sans-meat meals).
2. Add 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. of pepper. Pour tomato sauce in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. In the same pot, add 1 tbsp. olive oil. Saute one clove of garlic for about 1 minute on medium-low heat.
4. Add tomatoes back to the pot and add 1/2 c. of chopped basil. Cook for about 3 minutes on medium heat. If you like a smoother consistency, you can pop this mixture in the blender and make it as smooth as you like!

5. Place pasta in bowls, spoon sauce on top, and top with Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil for an extra bit of decadence.

 

 We did enjoy this meal without meat, but it is perfectly okay (and delicious) to add a grilled chicken breast seasoned with Italian seasonings. Also, if you don't want to prepare fresh tomatoes, a can of whole tomatoes works too. Just cut them to the consistency you want.

Happy Eating!

Tomato Basil Soup

I mentioned a few days ago that I love basil. This is a recipe for tomato basil soup. It's a lot like a normal tomato soup, but with a little something extra special! This is a dish that I make a TON of during the summer and then freeze it. It is perfect all year long. 

For this recipe, you'll need:

About 15 pounds of regular tomatoes (Use this blog post to prepare them)

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1/2 c. chicken stock

1 bay leaf

1/2 c. basil

2 tbsp. 1% milk

2 tbsp. olive oil- divided

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 small red onion

1 garlic clove

 While your regular tomatoes are cooking away, you need to prepare your cherry tomatoes. Also, start sauteing chopped onion and garlic together over medium heat.

 Cut each tomato in half. 

 Place on a baking sheet, toss with salt and pepper, and 1 tbsp. of olive oil. Roast on 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

 Give your basil a rough chop. No need to be too meticulous here, because you'll be blending it later. Add cherry tomatoes, cooked onion and garlic, bay leaf, basil, chicken stock, and salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat for 20 minutes.

 Add everything to the blender and blend until smooth. 

 You can make this as smooth or chunky as you like (you may not even want to blend it). I like mine pretty smooth, but with some texture. If you like that, leave about 1 1/2 cups of soup in the pot and don't blend it. Once you have your soup to the texture that you like, add back to the pot. Add milk and olive oil, stir well, and continue cooking for 10 more minutes. 

Serve with a grilled cheese or garlic bread. I hope you enjoy this soup as much as I do!

Garden Fresh Tomatoes

As I've mentioned before, we grow our own tomatoes during the summer. I actually do not enjoy raw tomatoes at all, weird, right? But, I do love cooked tomatoes in all kinds of varieties. We've been loaded down with fresh tomatoes lately. Here's a way to savor summer's best tomatoes in a multi-use sauce.

Only use ripe tomatoes. If they are a little green at the top, that's fine. If they are too green, put them in a window for a couple of days and they should be perfect. Mine have splits in them because they are home grown. 

Peel the tomatoes and take out all of the seeds and extra liquid. This is a messy process and requires you to get your hands messy!  The seeds and a lot of the liquid are where you see the yellow-ish areas.

Here are my tomatoes with all the seeds removed. You want to take out the seeds because they hold a lot of liquid around them. Tomatoes already have tons of water and leaving in the seeds will just makes your sauce too soupy. From this point, slice the tomatoes up into big chunks. Usually, I cut each tomato into four parts unless one is really big.

Put the tomatoes in a pot with about 2 tbsp. of water. Bring to a boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes.

The juice will naturally start to come out and make a sauce.

 After it has simmered, stir the tomatoes gently. The tomatoes will start to fall apart. The longer you cook, the thinner your sauce will become. 

At this point, you have a few choices. You can add some oregano and basil and serve over pasta. You can put into jars and freeze to enjoy summer fresh tomatoes all year. 

 

What I did this time... add fresh okra and corn right off the cob.  It's a quick vegetable soup!

 Enjoy with some cornbread.

Happy Weekend!!