Grills are for boys, ovens are for girls. I have no interest in cooking on a grill. I say, let the boys have it.
Because of this bias o' mine, I followed all the directions for this recipe, but put it in the oven instead.
The plate is from the Venice High School Flea Market, which doesn't get much attention. It stands in the shadow of the Rose Bowl and the Melrose Trading Post. But if you live 'round these parts, give it a shot. It's free and it's every second Saturday of the month.
These plates and tins were under $20.
I altered this recipe quite a bit, I needed to make it work for my needs. I cut the recipe in half, omitted the mozzarella and used frozen spinach because it's what I had.
Original recipe found here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Kosher salt
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- A large handful of cherry tomatoes (thinly sliced, reserving about 1/3 cup)
- 8 no-boil lasagna noodles
- 4 oz frozen spinach or half the box
- 3/4 to 1 cup ricotta cheese (you can vary this according to how cheesy you want the lasagna to be)
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil (I have a Thai Basil plant, so that's what I used)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 deg. Combine the ricotta, parmesan, red pepper flakes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and all but 1/4 teaspoon garlic in a bowl; drizzle with olive oil and toss. Season the sliced tomatoes with salt.Lay out a sheet of foil on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, top with 2 noodles side by side and sprinkle each noodle with 1 tablespoon water. Spread some of the spinach, sliced tomatoes and ricotta mixture on the noodles. Repeat to make another layer of noodles, water, spinach, tomatoes and ricotta mixture. Finish each stack with a noodle, 1 tablespoon water and a drizzle of olive oil. Bring the foil together and crimp tightly closed.
Bake until tender, about 10 minutes per side. It's easy to flip the lasagna since you have it snuggly tucked into a foil packet. Let rest 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the reserved tomatoes, a pinch of salt, the reserved 1/4 teaspoon garlic and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a bowl. Open the packets and cut the lasagna in half, if desired. Top with the tomato mixture and herbs.
*I found that when you're reheating the leftovers, the bottom noodle gets a really nice brown crispness if you reheat on a baking sheet at 350.
