Mediterranean lasagna

Few days ago, when it was dark and rainy outside, I desperately craved something warm and cozy for dinner.

My Mediterranean lasagna turned out to be rich for its taste and a great alternative for basic minced meat version. If you invite your friends (or your mom!) for a visit, you can wow them by saying that everything was made from scratch (except the sheets of lasagna). But hey, there's always the next time.

With a huge bowl of double cheese salad (which unfortunately was so good that it ended up in our mouths instead of pics) the dinner was fresh and hearty at the same time – not to mention that it tasted really yummy!

You need:
10-15 lasagna sheets (depending of the casserole's size)
2 cans of tuna fish
200g feta cheese
grated cheese

for the red sauce:
1 small zucchini
3 spring onions (mine were tiny)
3 cloves of garlic
40g tomato paste
500g chopped tomatos
250g artichoke hearts

season with s&p, drizzle of chili oil, dried chili flakes, paprika and herbs (oregano!)

white sauce:
4 tablespoons of flour
50g butter
7dl milk
fresh chives

season with salt and lemon pepper or white pepper

double cheese salad:

mix of spinach, beetroot leaves and rocket

1 red pepper

1 small cucumber

2 small tomatoes

100g cottage cheese

100g feta cheese

handful of green olives

marinated garlic cloves

for dressing, mix olive oil, drizzle of lemon juice and three tablespoons of red pesto

Start by making the red sauce. Dice the zucchinis and chop the spring onions. When the pan is hot, pour a splash of olive oil  and toss in the greens with crushed garlic. When zucchinis have softened a bit, add chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Season and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes. Drain and chop can of artichoke hearts and mix them in.

For the white sauce, start by melting the butter in non-stick pan. Make sure that the pan isn't too hot. (Otherwise it will burn, trust me.) Add flour and blend.

At this point, keyword is mix, mix, mix! Start adding the milk little by little while keeping the pan in medium heat. Toss in chopped chives and season. Let it simmer until the sauce has thickened. 

Preheat the oven to 200°c. Run the casserole through with butter.

Start piling the lasagna by adding quarter of the red sauce. Add crumbs of feta and chunks of tuna. Coat with white sauce and sheets of pasta. Repeat until the casserole is almost full. Coat last layers of lasagna sheets only with white sauce and grated cheese.

Bake 30-40 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown and the sheets fully cooked.

Homey flat bread pizza

Hence it was raining outside, I decided to make a homey evening more homey by making flat bread pizza topped with pile of salad. This home made version of mine is really good; considering how easy it is to make – and also the fact in mind that we only have basic oven in our tiny little kitchen. So few encouraging words for everyone. If I can do it, you certainly can do it!

I totally got caught up with slicing, dicing and shredding so I ended up making four pizzas though there's only two mouths to feed (+ one very eager dog with good appetite). As you might guess, the eating part turned out to be less of a struggle. All gone.

You need:

4 flat breads (any really thin bread suits well for purpose)

sauce for base:
60-70g tomato puree
120g red pesto
3 cloves of garlic
splash of ox fond or soy sauce

toppings:
250g cherry tomatoes
1 red pepper
2 onions (red, yellow, you decide)
2 red chili peppers
jalopenos
200 g feta cheese
green olives
sun-dried tomatoes

300g chicken
50g thinly sliced turkey salami

250g mozzarella
grated cheese

cajun spice mix
thyme
s&p

salad:
mix of spinach, rocket and chard
pumpkin and sun flower seeds
cashew nuts

olive oil
balsamic vinegar
sprinkle of lemon juice
s&p

Mix the ingredients of the sauce together. Blend well and add a bit of olive oil if it's too thick. Fry the chicken. Season it with s&p, cajun spice mix and little bit of dried thyme. Chop the veggies in any shape or form you like. Preheat the oven to 225°c.

Spoon tomato sauce on the base and start topping. Pile the heaviest ingredients first. Choose either chicken or salami for main ingredient. Add vegetables, rest of the topping and oregano. Coat with mozzarella and grated cheese.

Bake each pizza for about 15 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Making the salad is piece of cake. Rinse spinach, rocket and chard. Blend in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with seeds and nuts. 

Top the pizza with pile of salad and enjoy.

Delish creamy chicken pasta

And we continue with the chicken. Not on purpose because I was supposed to make pizza.

Creamy chicken pasta is my boyfriend's absolute favourite. How do I know that? Well, if he goes to the store to buy spinach just so I can make him a bowl of pasta, there's enough dedication to prove it (..and he also asks once a week if I can make THAT pasta for him).

I have to admit, I love this dish also. It's really simple to make and full of flavour. Actually there's two ways to do it. My original version includes blue cheese. Those of you who absolutely hate that smelly and ugly cheese: I agree. But never say never, right. With this dish it actually works.

You need:

big bunch of spaghetti

450g honey marinated chicken

2 small cloves of garlic

0,4l of double cream

50g blue cheese OR zest of one lemon

70g spinach (you can use more but that's the amount I usually have)

parmesan cheese

season with salt and dried basil

Cook the spaghetti. Before draining, save half a cup of cooking liquid for further use. Fry the chicken and add the garlic. Make sure that the chicken is golden brown. Before adding the cream, toss blue cheese into the mixture. Stir it for a while so the cheese is completely melted. Season with salt and basil. (At this point you can add the lemon zest instead of cheese.)

Let it simmer until the cream has thickened, 5–10 minutes or so. Throw the spinach in and quickly stir. Finally, complete the sauce with spaghetti and starchy cooking liquid. You don't have to pour the whole amount if the pasta looks moist enough.

Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese and few drops of lemon juice on top. Yum.

Leftover lunch

I heard that my mother and grandmother were coming for a visit. In one hour notice. If I reveal that we didn't have milk in our fridge, you can guess how well I was prepared when I started to create something for lunch.

So this is what I came up with. Chicken in pesto sauce. I garnished the dishes with feta crumble. I widely interpreted puttanesca-style way of thinking. Leftover cooking is rewarding. At least the older gals were really happy. I should do this more often.

You need:
1 red onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 tomatoes
300g chicken fillets
one small yellow pepper
150g green pesto sauce
200g crème fraîche
1 lemon zest
feta cheese

season with s&p, dried herbs (thyme, oregano), cayenne pepper and sumac (you can find it from oriental shops, adds a wonderful lemony tang to the food)

Fry the onions and garlic and add chopped tomatoes. Brown the chicken and season the mixture. Toss cubed peppers into the pan with pesto. After few minutes, pour a drop of water with crème fraîche. Grate lemon zest and let the sauce simmer for 15 minutes or so.

NB! You can add few tablespoons of turkish yoghourt into the sauce if it's too thick. After warming the sauce take it off the heat to avoid curdling.

Serve with feta crumbs and jasmine rice.