Salmon and Spinach Salad with Soy Vinaigrette

Dave and I are so excited to head to the US on Thursday to spend almost three weeks visiting friends and family. It always seems like a long time to be away, but then so much to do and so many people to see that it's always hectic by the end. But starting it off with a week at the beach in Florida with Dave's family gives us the much-needed relaxation before Dave heads back to work in California and I get to spend time with my friends and family in the Bay Area.

I was at yoga the other day and my teacher reminded us that's it's 'Yin' season and therefore we should slow down, and not over-indulge at the various parties of the season. Well, I know this is impossible, not only because of Christmas and New Years, but also because every time we go to the US, we're so excited to eat at our favorite spots, many of which aren't exactly the healthiest. But since we know it will be a while before we can get an In'N Out or a breakfast burrito, I won't pass up any opportunity. By the end, Dave and I always can't wait to get back to 'normal' food, home-cooked food that doesn't have to be a feast at every meal. So in preparation for the indulgences to come, here is a satisfying but light salad option that surprisingly does the trick even on a cold winter night.

Salmon and Spinach Salad with Soy Vinaigrette

Dressing:
3 Tbsp thinly sliced green onions
3 Tbsp rice vinegar
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp water
1 tsp bottled minced garlic
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp chile paste with garlic

Salad:
2 tsp dark sesame oil, divided
1/2c mushrooms
1c sliced green onions
1c canned corn kernels
2 salmon fillets
4c baby spinach
1c red bell pepper strips

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare the dressing by combing all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and stir with a whisk.

Heat a drizzle of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and onions, saute 8 minutes, then add corn and remove from heat.

Wipe the skillet dry and return to high-heat. Season the fillets with salt and pepper and add to the skillet when you see a slight smoke. Immediately turn down to medium-high heat. Do not move the fillets for 4 minutes, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the pan to the oven and cook for 5-7 minutes until cooked through.

Divide the spinach between plates and top with some bell pepper, mushrooms and a fillet of salmon. Then drizzle with some of the dressing.

Results: I opted to prepare the salmon my favorite way with a crispy shell. This is such a great dish even in winter since you have a balance of hot and cold and enough protein to make you feel like you've eaten a full meal. Definitely a nice start to a week (or several weeks) of indulgences too.

Based on recipe in Cooking Light Eat Well Cook Smart.

Snowy Pre-Christmas Dinner: Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

We had our first snow last Thursday and I don't think there's anything to get you more in the mood for Christmas than snow. Besides some shopping at the local outdoor market yesterday morning, Dave and I have been cooped up all weekend, last night celebrating our own Christmas and today relaxing and packing for the big trip coming up next week.

first snow

Since we don't want to bring our presents for each other to the US, we exchanged gifts on Saturday night after a bottle of Champagne and before a steak dinner. But I've featured steak on here before and realized I hadn't yet recapped this delicious dinner I made a while back, which would have been perfect for a pre-Christmas dinner.

White beans are such an elegant side dish and when braised or even just seasoned properly, they're divine. And anything bacon-wrapped is always going to be good, but this was a great combination and something a bit more classy for a Sunday roast.

Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Stewed White Beans

1 tsp fennel seed
salt and pepper
1 pork tenderloin, about 1 lb

Beans:
4 ripe plum tomatoes, chopped
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2c finely diced yellow onion
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cans white beans

fresh basil

In a dry skillet, toast the fennel seed until fragrant, several minutes. Crush the fennel with a mortar and pestle, then add salt and pepper to the mixture.

Trim any excess fat and silver skin from the tenderloin and cut into pieces about 1 1/2 inches long. Season then with the fennel mixture and press the mixture into the meat. Wrap a piece of bacon around each piece of pork and secure with a toothpick going all the way through.

In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the oil, then add the onion and garlic and pepper flakes; cook until softened, then add the tomatoes and beans. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 15 minutes.

Grill the pork over direct medium heat until the pork is barely pink in the center and the bacon is fully cooked, 12 to 15 minutes, turning once.

Stir torn fresh basil into the beans and serve with the pork.

Results: It's photos like the one above that make me realize how difficult it is to capture food on an average digital camera. I can't wait to get a better one because meals that were delicious barely translate through a photo. Regardless, the pork was great and this dish especially helped me discover my new-found love of fennel seed.

From Weber's Real Grilling cookbook.

A New Stew: Ropa Vieja

I love being in the season of soups as this means I get delicious leftovers for lunch. I have a bunch of favorites on the normal rotation -- chicken noodle soup, chili, lentil soup in various forms, stew, etc, but I'm constantly looking for new ideas so that we don't get sick of the favorites.

I don't know Cuban food at all, but this soup caught my eye. It uses a lot of ingredients and flavors that I often cook with, but creates a totally different taste than I'm used to. I really like the versatility of it too -- easing up on the broth would lead to a tender filling for tacos or burritos, or serve over rice the next day. I made some adjustments to the original recipe since I'm not a fan of olives, so technically this probably isn't a Ropa Vieja, but that's the fun part of cooking, making things your own. I love black beans and thought that was a good fit so added those in too.

Ropa Vieja (based on recipe in Cooking Light's Cook Smart Eat Well)
2 1-lb flank steaks, trimmed
3c sliced red onion
2c red bell pepper strips
2c green bell pepper strips
4 garlic cloves, minced
salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
black pepper
6 Tbsp sherry vinegar
1 can black beans
3c beef broth (fat-free, less-sodium if possible)
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 bay leaves 1/2 chopped fresh cilantro

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add a little oil or cooking spray. Add 1 steak to the pan, cook for 2 1/2 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove the steak and repeat with the other steak.

Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion, bell peppers and garlic to the pan and cook for 7 minutes or until tender, stirring often.


Stir in the next 5 seasonings, cook for 30 seconds and then stir in the vinegar, stirring to loosen brown bits; cook for 2 minutes or until the liquid almost evaporates. Add the steaks and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat and cook for 1 1/2 hours or until the steaks are very tender. Remove bay leaves.

Remove the steaks from the pan and shred with 2 forks.


Add shredded beef and cilantro to the pan, stir to mix. Serve with fresh tortillas or over rice.

Results: This was very straightforward to make and although it has to cook for a while, it's perfect for me to prep on my lunch break and then simmer several hours before Dave gets home. I like the different flavors, definitely still mild so of course I added crushed red pepper flakes, but it was a nice change to the beef stews I usually make. It also kept well and was tasty for lunch the following few days.

Last-Resort Favorite: Sausage with Bell Peppers, Onions & Roasted Potatoes

So from the photo, this dinner may not look like the most balanced meal, but I am and always will be a meat-and-potatoes kind of girl. Although I wouldn't necessarily say that this is my dad's favorite meal, this is his comfort food and if he was left to make dinner, this is likely what he'd make. Maybe even minus the bell peppers -- just onions, potatoes and sausage. No complaints there!

I would hardly call this a recipe, but when I had left it up to Dave to pick up a few ingredients for another dinner, and then he got held up on a call at work, I looked to our empty fridge and considered what I could make. I resorted to quickly defrosting some frozen sausage and adding it to roasted potatoes, onions and bell pepper strips. We serve with about 4 different mustards.

Sausage with Bell Peppers, Onions & Potatoes

3/4 lb baby potatoes, halved
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
3-4 links of sausage, sliced
fresh parsley, chopped

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the potatoes. Cook until almost-tender, then drain.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add a bit of olive oil and add the onion and bell pepper. Cook for several minutes, then add the potatoes. Cook for 7 minutes, then add the sausage and cook until the sausage and potatoes are browned. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with a bit of fresh parsley.

Serve with various mustards.

Results: Quick and easy comfort food and if cooked properly, the potatoes are fluffy inside and crispy on the outside.

A Childhood Favorite: Fettucine Alfredo

Fettucine alfredo was one of my favorite food growing up. It wasn't something that my mom made, but whenever we would go to to dinner, if they had fettucine alfredo on the menu, I would get it. Now I know the dish isn't even Italian, that doesn't really bother me at all, but a huge bowl of the creamy pasta with broccoli and chicken... hmmm! Usually my little stomach could only handle a small portion of the rich dish before asking for a doggy bag and finishing it over the next few days, but it was worth it.

Nowadays, I haven't completely given up on my old favorite, but it's not exactly easy to find over here. Even back in San Francisco, it's one of those dishes I would always consider ordering, but let's be honest, it's not exactly healthy... to say the least.

But when we arrived home from Madrid a few weekends ago and we didn't have much in the fridge, I looked at what we did have and went from there. Half a container of heavy cream, another half of creme fraiche, some whole milk -- items that I would probably would've ended up just throwing away after using the portion I needed for previous dishes, I started thinking Alfredo. We always have Parmesan cheese and I always keep a bag of frozen broccoli on hand so we can have some sort of vegetable even with an empty fridge.

It's been so long since I've had fettucine alfredo and I can't even remember if I've ever made it myself so I started browsing recipes to get an idea of how to make the sauce and in the end just winged it with the various creams I had on hand.

Fettucine Alfredo
4 Tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
white pepper
1/2c heavy cream
1/4c creme fraiche
1/2c whole milk
3/4 grated Parmesan cheese
1c diced ham
black pepper
crushed red pepper
1 pkg fettucine or angel hair pasta

Bring a large pan of water to a boil, salt and add the pasta. Cook until done, then add to the sauce and mix immediately. I cooked my frozen broccoli in a steamer over the top while the pasta was cooking, worked fine.

In a large saucepan over medium low heat, add the butter and when melted, add the garlic. Next stir in the cream, white pepper, creme fraiche and milk and continue stirring, raise temperature to bring mixture to a simmer. Add the Parmesan cheese and stir often, cooking about 10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. Stir in one cup diced ham and continue to cook several minutes until heated through.


Stir in the pasta and broccoli, season with black and crushed red pepper and top with fresh parsley.


Results: This turned out surprisingly well considering the random ingredient mix. I used ham as we generally keep a few small packaged of this diced ham in the freezer, but chicken is so good with this. Still obviously not the healthiest dinner, but every once in a while it's okay :)

Roast Beef with Horseradish-Herb Crust, Horseradish Cream and Yorkshire Pudding

Sundays night in fall are usually reserved for football food like chili, tacos or other appetizers-turned-into-meals, but I've always been a fan of the British tradition of the Sunday roast. Well, it's still football season so this was actually a Monday roast, but same idea. I also took inspiration from England for the yorkshire pudding served with it.

Don't get me wrong, I love to create my own recipes and test out different flavors, but I must admit, I'm much more cautious when it comes to a roast or a larger cut of meat. I feel that often it's simplicity that works best, but especially because these cuts of meat are usually somewhat pricey, I definitely don't want to mess it up. So after using recipes for some of these roasts, I start to develop my own recipes, but one problem I often find, is that the original recipe, perhaps with a few slight changes, is so good, that I'd rather get a hit than a potential miss.

So it's Tyler Florence's recipe that I followed several years ago for a pre-Thanksgiving feast I hosted for my family before flying off to Cincinnati for actual Thanksgiving with Dave's family. It was so flavorful (although definitely on the salty side), that I wanted to use the same recipe with a slight modification when I saw this roast on sale at the store. I would definitely ease up on the salt, reduce it to at least 1/4c and I didn't make the gravy. Instead, I made a horseradish cream by combining 4 Tbsp prepared horseradish with 1/2c creme fraiche or sour cream, then a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. You can use less horseradish if you don't like it so strong. Dollop this on top of the the meat, I forgot to add before I took the photo above.


For the yorkshire pudding, I had never made this before so I took Tyler's lead again with this recipe. They turned out good, but I think I needed more pan drippings or even some cooking spray because they ended up sticking to the pan.


Results: This is one of my all-time favorite roast recipes. It has so much flavor, but be careful about the salt as it's very easy to use too much. Dave was thrilled to be having such a feast on a Monday night, but I still can't believe that it was the chicken sandwiches the next night that he was actually even more excited for.

Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells with Sage Brown Butter Sauce

It seems like temperatures have dropped in the last week and it definitely feels like winter, but I still have a few more fall recipes to post here, yes a few more squash/pumpkin recipes :)

I rarely make stuffed pasta, but browsing one of my new favorite food blogs, I came across a recipe I just had to try. I made a few changes to the filling by adding meat, mozzarella and nutmeg, but the idea was definitely inspired by Proud Italian Cook, who, ironically enough, noted her recipe was inspired by Donna Hay, the magazine I've made several recipes from over the past few months.


Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells with Sage Brown Butter
1 container ricotta
1/4c Parmesan cheese
1/2c mozzarella cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
salt and pepper
dash of nutmeg
1/4c squash puree* or canned pumpkin
grated lemon zest
2 Tbsp butter
1 bunch fresh sage
1 Tbsp lemon juice
8oz cubed ham
shells


*If using squash, heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut a butternut squash in half, scoop out the seeds, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake until tender, about 30 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add several tablespoons of salt, then add the shells. Cook according to the package instructions, until al dente. Drain and set aside.

Bring a skillet to medium high heat, add a little oil and cook the ham until browned. Drain over paper towels and set aside. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix the cheeses, egg, garlic, salt and pepper, nutmeg and lemon zest in a bowl. Add the ham and stir to mix. Tear a few pieces of sage into little bits and stir that into the mix, then add the squash or pumpkin and stir until combined. Stuff the shells, place in a baking dish and bake until heat through and beginning to crisp, about 25 minutes.

While the shells cook, prepare the sage butter. In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter, then add 8-10 whole sage leaves and cook until the butter begins to brown and the leaves are crispy, then squeeze a tablespoon of lemon and swirls to mix. Drizzle over the stuffed shells.


Results: I was surprised with how much I liked this as I'm not usually a huge fan of stuffed pasta. As with many of the squash recipes, it really just gave the filling a depth of flavor without tasting too much like squash. They were soft on the inside but crispy on the outside and although the additional butter was probably unnecessary, crisped sage leaves are so delish and it's a great finish. Dave said this was one of his recent favorites so it will definitely make an appearance next fall, if not before with other seasonal ingredients.

A Perfect Sunday: Christmas Markets and Football Food

Walking to the Montreux market on Lake Geneva

It's probably no surprise that I absolutely love the Christmas season. I love the music, the decorations, the food and the spirit of the season. It's been so nice to be away from the commercialism in the US during this time of year as well, although I have to admit, our grocery store has a ridiculous amount of Christmas crap that almost reminds me of home.

But the best part about living here during the Christmas season is of course the Christmas markets. These markets are all over Europe and many towns across Switzerland have a marche de Noel. I've learned quickly that they vary in size and quality, but it's definitely worth it to do a combination so you get a taste of it all. Last year we visited Basel, Colmar and Mulhouse, which I felt was the perfect balance of small and large. This year we went to Bulle, near Gruyere, which was quaint, but too small for the 1-hour drive to get there. Luckily that wasn't our only stop and we headed to Montreux. We had heard mixed reviews about this one but it was pretty good. We did have to park our car in a lot and take a shuttle to the market, but that turned out to be okay. There were various sections and all the typical food like fondue, sausages, big German pretzels, vin chaud (mulled wine) and plenty of sweets.

Bulle market

Visiting these markets is not Dave's favorite thing to do as they're basically a bunch of crowded stands with 'crap' as we call them. Sure, they're local artisans, but at the end of the day, it's all knick-knacks and very rarely do I find anything worth buying, but I still really enjoy the whole experience of being outside in the cold with my mulled wine and seeing the decorations. But over here it's Dave and I so we're both pretty good about compromising. The biggest draw to get Dave to come with me to the markets is the good snacks they have and that will usually tide him over for an hour or so. I keep telling him that if he'd have some mulled wine, he might enjoy the whole thing a lot more.

Montreux marche

To top off an already-great Sunday in my book (but perhaps not Dave's), I wanted to make a fun dinner to watch football and thought back to an old Food Network recipe I made several years ago for the Superbowl. I checked out the recipe, but decided to adapt most of it so here is my version of a Layered Mexican Pizza:


homemade corn tortillas
1 can refried beans
1 can black beans
1 lb ground beef
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1c mixed white and yellow cheese
2 jalapenos, sliced
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 green onion, chopped

Add a little oil to a skillet over medium high heat, then add the ground beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook until lightly browned, then drain over paper towels. Leave a little of the grease in the pan and add the chopped onion, cook until soften, then add the ground beef back to the pan. Add the taco seasoning and 1/4c water, turn the heat down to low, stir and simmer until the sauce is coating the meat. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, add the 2 cans of beans and cook until just slightly bubbling. In the meantime, prepare an assembly line with the other toppings.

On a cookie sheet, put 4 corn tortillas down. Top each with a scoop of the beans, then top with the meat mixture, some cheese and jalapenos. Top each with another tortilla and repeat the process, ending with another tortilla on top.


Sprinkle with cheese, green onions and tomatoes an put in the oven for 10 minutes, or until heated through and the cheese is melted. Top with cilantro and serve immediately. Easiest to eat with a knife and fork, great with hot sauce.



Results: I really like this dinner as it had all the ingredients of our average Mexican dinner, but it a different form. Note to self: Making all these homemade tortillas takes quite a bit of time (to press out and cook each one on the skillet), so this dinner that could take 15 minutes turns into an hour. In the future (back in the US), I'll use the store-bought tortillas.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Leftover Cream Cheese Frosting

So after my pumpkin cake didn't turn out exactly how I wanted for Thanksgiving, I had a lot of extra frosting to use up. I suggested making another cake, and while Dave loved what cake survived from Thanksgiving, he quickly said no as that would not be a good idea to have another cake around. I hate wasting food, so I immediately agreed to Dave's suggestion to make pumpkin pancakes last Sunday.

I started browsing recipes and found this one which looked perfect. I changed some of the seasoning as I didn't have pumpkin pie spice, but adding ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice is basically the equivalent.

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes from epicurious.com

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the first 5 ingredients in large bowl and stir to mix. Whisk milk, pumpkin, egg yolks, melted butter and vanilla in medium bowl to blend well. Add pumpkin mixture to dry ingredients; whisk just until smooth (batter will be thick). Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in another medium bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into batter in 2 additions.


Melt a little butter in a large nonstick skillet heated over medium heat. Working in batches, pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls into skillet.

Cook until bubbles form on surface of pancakes and bottoms are brown, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing skillet with butter between batches.


I topped with some of the cream cheese frosting from the Thanksgiving cake.


Results: These pancakes were delicious. I've cooked so much with pumpkin lately, but this is one of the few recipes where you could really taste it. The frosting was a nice touch, but made it seem like a dessert and really the amount of frosting used in the photo above was too much. I think Dave and I ate them plain after the first batch. I've never beat egg whites for pancakes before and while this is certainly extra work, these pancakes were spongy and fluffy. Especially the first batch that I made, right after the batter was mixed, I was almost worried they weren't cooking through, but they were just light and delicious. Definitely something different that I'll make again next fall.

Chicken Sandwiches with Red Onions, Goat Cheese & a Balsamic Drizzle

Of all the feasts I've prepared, I don't think of ever seen Dave as excited as he was for sandwiches. He admitted, 'it's because we never have sandwiches for dinner!' Well, I hope he's always this easy to please :)

Tuesdays nights are always a difficult night to get dinner on the table at a decent hour. With our weekly newsletter publish on Wednesdays, Tuesdays are never fun for Travelzooers. So usually I try to plan dinner that can either be prepped in advance, or that can be made very quickly, like this one that I made in about 15 minutes.

Now I have to admit, as easy as this sandwich sounds, it was a recipe out of a cookbook with a balsamic glaze and after 2 tries, I gave up on the glaze completely. I couldn't time it properly. I'd leave it to reduce, which takes some time and always look away or leave the room at the wrong moment and by the time I'd get back it would be bitter. Well, after wasting several portions of the balsamic, I decided a simple drizzle of balsamic over the chicken would do just fine and of course it did. Still, while these were just sandwiches, they felt like a meal and served with a simple side salad, I guess they technically were.

Balsamic-Glazed Chicken Sandwiches with Red Onions and Goat Cheese from Cooking Light Cook Smart Eat Well
(this is the attempted recipe, I'm sure you can figure out the 'balsamic drizzle' ;)

3/4c balsamic vinegar
1/2c dry red wine
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 chicken breasts (skinless, boneless)
salt and pepper
olive oil
1 1/2c thinly vertically sliced red onion
3-oz goat cheese
4 kaiser rolls (or baguette)
1c arugula, plus more for side salads

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 12 minutes -- maybe I should have paid more attention to this note!). Remove from heat and cool slightly.

While vinegar mixture cooks, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; coat with cooking spray. Season chicken with salt and pepper, add to pan and cook for 4 minutes per side or until cooked through. Remove from pan, cut into thin slices, cover and keep warm.

Add oil to the pan, reduce the temperature to medium-low and add the onion. Cook for 5 minutes or until soft and beginning to brown, stirring frequently. Remove oven from heat.

Spread some goat cheese on each roll/bread and arrange the chicken on top, then add the onion. Drizzle each with about 1 Tbsp balsamic mixture and top with arugula and the other half of the roll.

Results: Well, I've already alluded to the problems, but despite the lack of balsamic-glaze, these sandwiches were delicious. I recommend toasting the bread or bun before. This was such a change from our typical dinner that it reminds me, sometimes simple is better.

A New Fall Favorite: Squash Lasagna

I've really enjoyed fall this year. The weather still hasn't been too cold, the foliage was just as beautiful as expected, I've had a bit of time to experiment with seasonal ingredients and as you can see from the top photo, it's the season of spectacular sunsets from my office window (see Jon, I told you that's where the sun sets!).

Over the last few weeks, I've been cooking a lot with pumpkins and squash and while it may look like that's all we're eating over here right now, I promise, it's not as bad as it seems. Since I still have been quite busy, I've made a few new recipes each week with a few old favorites, but I've only been documenting the new-to-the-blog recipes.

I got the idea for squash lasagna when browsing one of my new favorite food blogs, Proud Italian Cook, who also gave me the idea for the squash pastina. There are so many recipes online nowadays, that I often get an idea for something, then search various recipes for ideas and take things from various recipes, then add my own ideas too. That's basically what happened here.

I made a basic Bechamel sauce, but infused it with the roasted garlic like Proud Italian. I also used a mix of mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. I incorporated sage in mine as well, and of course some meat.

Squash Lasagna
1 butternut squash, slice in half and seeded
olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4c butter
1/4c flour
3 1/2c whole milk
pinch of nutmeg
2 heads roasted garlic**
1 bunch fresh sage leaves
4 links mild sausage
2 1/2c shredded mozzarella
1/3c grated Parmesan
no-boil lasagna noodles

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Drizzle the squash with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and cook until tender (but not mushy), about 25 minutes. Let cool, then slice into thin pieces. Keep the oven on, but reduce to 375 degrees F.

**Make the roasted garlic in advance to save a lot of time. You can also use fresh garlic, but it's always nice to have roasted garlic around. Basically just cut the very top of the head of garlic off, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put it in a dish with some maybe 1/4 inch of water, cover with foil and bake for 1 hour at 400 degrees F.


To make the Bechamel, add the butter to a skillet over medium heat. Once it has melted, whisk in the flour until mixed, then stir in the milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened, whisking often. Stir in the nutmeg and squeeze in the roasted garlic (holding onto the skin). Stir until well-mixed.

Slice up the sausage and cook in a skillet until cooked through. Set aside.

In a casserole or baking dish, pour in some of the sauce. Arrange the noodles on top, then the pieces of squash. Tear a sage leave into bits, then top with a layer of mozzarella cheese and one layer of sausage (should use up all sausage).


Repeat layers with the sauce, noodles, squash, sage and cheese, ending with the sauce. Then top with more mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese. Cover the dish with foil and cook for 40 minutes. Remove the foil, top with a bit more torn sage and cook uncovered until the cheese is bubbling, another 15 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.



Results: Another great dish with squash and such a fun change from red sauce lasagna. All the versions I saw of this are vegetarian, but I decided to add the sausage in. Dave was still searching for pieces with more sausage so I'm glad I put it in and it surprisingly worked with the other flavors. Could also use prosciutto as well. Will definitely be on the fall rotation in years to come.