- I have many dessert recipes left, but not so many main courses, sides or appetizers. Not only are some of my clothes fitting a wee bit tighter, but I found out recently that fairly soon my father will have to go on dialysis due to kidney disease, which is of course related to his diabetes and uncontrolled blood sugar, which leads back to that white poison, contained within each and every one of my dessert recipes (okay, some of them have brown sugar instead).
- Many of my remaining recipes either require special ingredients or a long cooking or marinating time, which requires more planning then heading out to the grocery store after work for a few items.
- I've worked part of both of the last two weekends and somehow splitting my days off leaves me feeling more frazzled.
- I've started a side challenge, where I must cook 5 recipes each from two of my lesser used cookbooks by April 30, else they face the chopping block.
But this weekend I had the luxury of time. I had Friday off as my day for working Sunday. Trent had to work, so I was left to my own devices which included:
- Walking to Neptune Coffee for knitting and coffee with a friend
- Haircut and highlights at Aria Salon with the fabulous Tamara, who I've been seeing for over ten years
- A croissant from Crumble and Flake (at Tamara's recommendation) on my way walking downtown from Capitol Hill
- Field trip to DeLaurenti at Pike Place Market to pick up numerous specialty ingredients required for my next few recipes
- Lazy nap on the couch
- Reading The Woman I Wanted to Be and Every Dress a Decision (a book by Elizabeth Austen the Washington State poet laureate who will soon be visiting my library)
- Fixing a delectable dinner of pan-fried salmon, saffron-scallion couscous (one of my side challenge recipes) and kale salad
Saturday we went sailing on our friend's 47' boat - only the second time it's been sailing on the Sound. It was a bit dicey for a few moments, as the engine died before we left the breakwater and we started losing steering with rocks to our port side and expensive boats to starboard on a very windy day, with wind speed in the upper twenties. Fortunately there was a large slip available right when we needed it and both captain and crew remained relatively calm and in control (no yelling or swearing). After some engine work, we set off again for a few hours. We continued to be haunted by engine trouble, which was only an issue when we noticed a tug approaching rather quickly in the shipping lanes and getting ready to dock again.
After post-sail happy hour, Trent and I headed to Rock Lobster to do a bit of boat work before heading home, sore and a wee bit exhausted. By that point I knew I had to move right into dinner prep if we didn't want to order out for dinner, since I feared that once I collapsed I would not get up again. It was well worth it - the perfect post-sail cozy dinner. This is another of the recipes that I got from my aunt, courtesy of her cooking class in Tuscany. While I enjoyed making it, I feel as though I would have enjoyed it even more had I been to Tuscany. Ah well, maybe in the next year or two...
Lasagne alla Rucola
- sheets of lasagna noodles (quantity depends on size & thickness - available from DeLaurentis at Pike Place Market - I bought 6 at their recommendation)
- 7 oz. or 1 c. sweet gorgonzola (200 g.), remove rind*
- Milk q.b. (whatever's best)
- 10.6 oz. or 1 1/2 c. ricotta (sheep) (300 g.)
- 7 oz. or 1 c. cream (200 g.)
- 1 c. grated parmigiano
- 4 oz. baby rucola (aka arugula)
- butter
- garlic
- pine nuts
- shallots, very thinly sliced
- dash nutmeg, freshly grated
- salt and pepper
Cook lasagna in lots of boiling water (if fresh lasagna with egg, add oil to the water). Mix gorgonzola with a little milk, add ricotta, cream and a good handful of freshly grated parmiagiano. Adjust with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Chop rucola thinly, but keep some whole leaves for garnish. Saute rucola in butter and a clove of garlic. Add to the mixture. Lightly saute pine nuts (which brings out their nutty flavor) and one shallot in butter and put aside.
Butter a baking dish, add some milk, put a layer of lasagna noodle, a layer of mixture, and repeat until you finish the ingredients (4 layers maximum). Don't be stingy with sauce on the top, but you can be cautious throughout the dish. Garnish with grated parmiagiano, pine nuts and shallots. Cover with aluminum foil since rucola is sensitive. Cook in 350 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes (mine took quite a bit longer)
*If you cannot find ¨sweet¨ gorgonzola, reduce amount of regular gorgonzola and increase ricotta.
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