Slow Cooker Lasagne

We love lasagne! But, when I think of lasagne, I think of it as being a weekend meal because it does take a little bit more time. On a busy weekday however, preparing something like lasagne isn't really an option. That being said, this recipe is a great solution, allowing us to enjoy one of our favourite meals on any day. The smell of the house was fantastic, and the cheese gets all gooey. Is there really anything better?

9 whole wheat lasagne , uncooked
6 cups fresh spinach
1 cup light ricotta
1 ½ cup light cottage cheese
2 cups marinara (either your favourite jarred or homemade)
1 ½ cup shredded mozzarella (I used bocinccini pearls instead – I hate grating!!)
½ cup water

In your slow cooker, spray lightly with olive oil.
Begin layering the lasagne with a large spoonful of the sauce on the bottom. Then add a layer of lasagne noodles (break them up if you need to fit them in). Add some of the ricotta cheese, followed by some of the cottage cheese, and then the spinach. Continue to make about 3 layers (depending on the size of your slowcooker) in the same order; sauce, noodles, ricotta, cottage cheese, spinach. Top with the mozzarella cheese. Add about ½ a cup of water to the slowcooker once your lasagne is layered, to prevent it from burning. Cook on low for about 6 hours. Let it stand for about 15 minutes after it is cooked to allow everything to “settle”, and any excess liquid to be absorbed.

Tortellini Soup

This soup is so good! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the end result was fantastic! When getting a pre-made tortellini, have a look at the ingredients. Make sure that it is whole grain, and that there aren’t any ingredients on the package that you can’t pronounce. If possible, get an organic brand, but if that isn’t available, there are plenty out there that work well. Fresh tortellini can usually be found in the deli section of your grocery store.

1 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 litre vegetable stock
1 19oz can diced tomatoes, liquid included
5oz fresh, whole wheat tortellini, cheese flavoured (these come in different size packages, so choose one that is about 5oz)
5oz fresh spinach, roughly chopped
8-10 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

Fresh Parmesan cheese for topping

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 2 or 3 minutes. Add stock, and bring to a boil. Add tortellini and cook for half the cooking time stated on the package. Add in all other ingredients, and continue cooking until the tortellini is cooked. Top with fresh parmesan cheese if desired. Serve immediately.

Cottage Cheese Gnocchi

I was surprised at how easy this was to make. I was inspired by a cooking show I watched, so I tried it out, adding my own twist to the ingredients. It has a lot of protein in it, so it is very filling.

3 cups cottage cheese, strain out as much liquid as possible.
2 cups spelt flour
Pinch of salt
1 egg
2 egg whites
¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp olive oil

Leave the cottage cheese in a strainer for a couple of hours to get out as much liquid as possible.

After the cheese has been strained, boil a large pot of salted water.
In a food processor, blend cottage cheese. Add all other ingredients but olive oil. Do not over-mix, as the gnocchi will be chewy.

Place blended ingredients into a Ziploc bag, as you would in a pastry bag. Squeeze the dough into one of the corners, and then cut the corner of the bag with scissors. Squeeze one centimeter pieces of dough through the corner and cut with a paring knife, directly into the boiling water. Once all the gnocchi have been cut, cook for 3 minutes. Strain, and add the olive oil so that they don’t stick together.

Top with a marinara sauce and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Simple Lasagna

This is an easy lasagna to make and makes for great leftovers, although with how good it is, I’m not sure how much you will have leftover. When I made this, everyone had seconds, and there was only a little bit left for lunch the next day, and that was for 4 adults and 2 toddlers. Delicious!

12 whole wheat lasagna noodles
2 cups Ricotta cheese
2 cups cottage cheese
2 pkgs. Frozen spinach, thawed
4 cups marinara sauce, jarred is fine, but homemade is even better. I have a recipe under pasta if you want to try to make your own.
1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese, grated


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cook noodles according to package directions.

While noodles are cooking, squeeze excess water out of spinach into the sink. This is very important, otherwise the lasagna will be too watery. Place spinach in a bowl once the liquid has been drained. Add ricotta and cottage cheese to the bowl. Mix well.

In a very large, rectangular pyrex or corningware dish layer ingredients starting first with marinara sauce, followed by noodles and then spinach mixture. Top with the mozzarella.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown.

Rice Cooker Macaroni and Cheese

No, there isn’t a typo, and I didn’t mean slowcooker. This really is macaroni and cheese done in the rice cooker. Sounds crazy, but this recipe is unbelievably good!

Not only does it taste great, but it is easier than making macaroni and cheese out of a box. Well, maybe not that easy, but pretty close. If you try no other recipe on this blog, try this. You won’t be disappointed.

2 cups whole wheat macaroni
2 cups vegetable stock
1 ¼ cup cheddar cheese
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup skim milk
2 cups chopped up broccoli florets
Salt to taste

Put macaroni and stock in rice cooker. Cook for 15 minutes. Add all other ingredients. Continue to cook for another 30 minutes. That's it! Seriously, the pasta comes out perfectly cooked, and the broccoli is tender but not overcooked.

Next time, I am going to add 1 cup of frozen peas as well.

Eggplant Lasagne

What is one of the major rules of cooking? Don't cook a new recipe when you are having guests over because you never know how it will turn out. This weekend, I reluctantly broke that rule.

I had my mother-in-law and her husband in town, and planned to make ricotta and spinach stuffed eggplant cannelloni. They are just like regular cannelloni, but instead of using noodles, it would be thinly sliced, roasted eggplant (great for any low-carb eaters). I bought eggplant this week, and all the ingredients, and was ready to go. Right before starting to get dinner ready, I realized that the eggplant that I bought were too small to act as noodles. Panicking, I decided to make it into a sort of lasagne instead. The verdict? Well, there were no leftovers, and everyone had seconds, so I would say it turned out really well. Here is the recipe;

1 500g container ricotta
1 cup 1% cottage cheese
1 pkg. frozen spinach, thawed
2 medium eggplants, thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste
2 cups Marinara Sauce
1 ½ cups havarti cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Thinly slice both eggplants so that the pieces are about ¼ of an inch thick. Place in a single layer on a greased cooking sheet. Drizzle 2 tbsp olive oil and about ¼ tsp salt on top so both sides of eggplant are evenly coated. Roast for 15 minutes.

While eggplant is cooking, prepare the filling. Squeeze excess water from thawed spinach. To do this, overlap about 3 paper towels on top of one another. Place spinach in the middle, and wrap paper towel around spinach. Squeeze water into sink.

In a large bowl, combine ricotta, drained spinach, cottage cheese and ¼ tsp salt.

In a large rectangular Pyrex dish, layer the lasagne; marinara sauce, eggplant, ricotta mixture, and finally Havarti. You should have enough mixture to do 2-3 layers. Make sure you finished the layers with Havarti on top.

Cook for 45 minutes in 400 degree oven, or until cheese is golden. Let stand for a few minutes before cutting.

Butternut Squash Lasagne

Butternut Squash Filling
6 cups butternut squash, diced (I use the squash from Costco – it is already diced)
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and Pepper

1 500g container of ricotta cheese
1 cup 1% cottage cheese

-Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
-On a large roasting sheet, place butternut squash and garlic. Add olive oil and salt and pepper.
-Cook for approximately 20 minutes, or until squash is fork tender.
-Remove from oven, and mash until smooth. Add ricotta and cottage cheese

Carmelized Onions
3 medium onions, sliced in rings
2 tsp olive oil

-While squash is roasting, heat up olive oil in a large skillet on medium high.
-Add onions, and cook until carmelized and golden brown (approximately 20 minutes)

Béchamel Sauce
¼ cup butter
¼ cup spelt flour
2 cups skim milk
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
A pinch of nutmeg

-While onions are carmelizing, and squash is roasting, prepare the Bechamel Sauce.
-In a pot, melt butter on medium/high heat. Once butter is melted, add flour. Whisk for about one minute or until the butter and flour are well combined.
-Add milk, and continue whisking until sauce thickens. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Noodles
9 whole wheat lasagne noodles

-Cook lasagne noodles according to package directions.


In a 9x13 dish, layer squash mixture, onions and noodles. Once these are layered, add the Bechamel Sauce on top. Top with ¾ cup grated Asiago cheese.

Cook at 425 degrees for approximately 30-40 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown.

Mushroom Stroganoff

Approx. 4 cups dry whole wheat egg noodles
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
4 cups sliced mushrooms (I used crimini mushrooms)
1 cup frozen peas
2 cups vegetable broth
1 ½ cups low fat sour cream
3 tbsp spelt flour
¼ cup freshly chopped parsley
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Saute onion in oil until translucent. Then add mushrooms and cook until brown. Place cooked vegetables in a bowl and set aside.

While vegetables are sautéing, cook egg noodles according to package directions.

In the same skillet that vegetables were cooked in, add the vegetable broth. Let cook for several minutes (about 10 minutes) on high or until it has reduced in half. Return vegetables to the pan. Add peas.

In a small bowl combine sour cream and flour. Add this mixture to vegetables and broth. Cook for a few minutes until sauce has thickened. Add fresh parsley and noodles. Stir until all noodles are evenly coated with the sauce. Serve with extra fresh parsley if desired and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Frittata

1 cup whole grain pasta (I like to use penne or linguine, but any will do)
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1/4 tsp salt and pepper
3/4 cup egg whites
1 whole egg
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions
2. In a bowl, combine all other ingredients, except cheese. Add cooked pasta once that is finished.
3. Spray with medium sized frying pan with non-stick spray, or drizzle with olive oil.
4. Pour all ingredients into the pan, on medium heat. Top with a lid, so that the top of the egg also cooks.
5. Cook until egg is mostly cooked, and only minimally jiggles. Then, slide the frittata onto a plate, and then flip it back into the pan, on the other side that hasn't been cooked yet. This can be a little tricky, but it does work. Just be patient.
6. Add cheese to the top. Replace lid. Cook until cheese is melted.
7. Remove from heat. Let cool for a few minutes before serving. If you serve it too fast, it will fall apart.

You can use any veggies or ingredients that you want to. Brocolli and cheese is also good.

Vegetable Lasagna

9 whole wheat lasagna noodles
1 roasted red pepper, jarred is fine
1 roasted green pepper, jarred is fine - if you can find it
1 zucchini, diced
1 large onion, diced
2 portabella mushrooms, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp crushed chilies
6 large tomatoes, diced
2 cans tomato paste
Salt to taste
2 cups spinach
2 cups fresh mozzarella cheese, grated
1 500g tun ricotta cheese (optional, but I highly recommend it)

Cook lasagna noodles according to package.

In a pan, sauté zuccini, onions, mushrooms and garlic until tender. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, chilies, roasted peppers and herbs. Continue to cook for a couple of minutes. If sauce is too thick, add a small amount of water. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Layer in a greased oven-safe casserole dish with sauce first, then noodles, followed by spinach and cheese.

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Cover lasagna with foil and cook for 35 to 40 minutes. Then broil for a few minutes until cheese is golden brown. Remove from oven, and let sit for about 5 minutes. Cut and serve.

You can also do a layer of ricotta for something different.

Marinara Sauce

2 tsp. olive oil
1 onion
2 stalks celery
2 carrots
3 cloves garlic
2 28oz cans crushed tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
¼ tsp. salt (or more if desired)

Dice up onions, celery and carrots into small pieces. Saute in olive oil until soft. Add garlic, saute one more minute.

Add tomatoes, oregano and salt. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add hot chili flakes if desired.

Freezes very well.

Lasagna Roll-ups

1 pkg. frozen spinach
1 container ricotta cheese
1 cup dry cottage cheese
8 whole wheat lasagna noodles
1 large jar pasta Sauce, or 2 cups of homemade sauce
Fresh Parmesan

Cook Lasagna noodles according to directions on the package.

Thaw spinach. Squeeze all excess water out with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels.

3. Add spinach, cottage cheese and ricotta to a bowl. Combine well. Add salt if desired.

4. Once lasagna noodles are cooked, lay them out flat on a cutting board. Spread some of the ricotta and spinach mixture on each noodle, and roll up like a Swiss jelly roll. Pour sauce on top.

5. Place in oven at 425 degrees for half an hour. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and put on broil for a couple minutes more.