Easy Lasagna

After not having so much success with the macarons, I decided to make lasagna for dinner. This also my first experiment, but with this I was pretty sure it won't screw up so much like those macarons. And though it might not look pretty here, it is definitely soothing to the palate and soon enough, all my frustration about those feetless macarons of mine went away.

Meat Lasagna

250g instant lasagna (it has to be instant so u don't have to pre-cook it before layering)

Meat sauce:

2 tbsp oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 can button mushroom, sliced

500g mince meat

5 tbsp tomato puree

2 fresh tomatoes, diced

2 cups chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

a pinch of basil

1. Heat oil in a saucepan, add onion, mushroom and garlic, cook until soft.

2. Add mince meat, cook until brown. Then stir in tomato puree, diced tomatoes and chicken stock.

3. Season with salt, pepper and basil and let cook for 20 minutes.

Cheese Sauce:

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp plain flour

2 cups milk

125 g mozzarella or cheddar cheese

1. Melt butter in a saucepan, stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes over low heat.

2. Remove from heat and stir in milk.

3. Return the pan back to heat, stir until thick and smooth, then add in the cheddar.

4. Season with pepper and salt as needed and stir until cheese melts.

Assembly:

1. Preheat oven to 180C and pour 1/4 of the meat sauce into a lightly greased baking dish.

2. Alternate layers of lasagna, meat and cheese sauces, ending with cheese sauce layer (make 4 layers).

3. Sprinkle with grated parmesan if desired and bake for 30 minutes with the dish covered in foil.

4. Remove foil and continue baking for a further 15 minutes until the pasta is cooked through.

Creamy Blue Cheese Gnocchi

Last week I made these gnocchi with creamy blue cheese sauce for dinner. It was pretty easy since I wasn't in the mood to cook the usual full course Malay meal that day. Here's how..

For the gnocchi :

3 really huge potatoes, peeled
2 cups plain flour (I used superfine because that's what I had)
30 g butter, melted
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
some freshly ground pepper to suit your taste

1. Cook potato in large pan of boiling water until just tender; drain and then mash.
2. Add flour, butter, Parmesan cheese and pepper. mix until well combined and knead until smooth.
3. Form dough into small 2.5 cm rounds and indent each one of them with fork prongs to shape.
4. Heat a pan of water until boiling and lower batches of gnocchi into the boiling water. Gnocchi are cooked when they float to the top. Drain and keep them warm.

For the creamy sauce :

60 g butter
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
freshly ground pepper
125 g blue cheese, crumbled
3 spring onions (here I used parsley because the mart was out of spring onions)

1. Heat the butter in a medium pan; add flour. Stir over low heat until flour mixture is lightly golden.
2. Add milk gradually to pan, stirring until mixture is smooth. Continue stirring over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens.
3. Add mustard, pepper to taste, cheese and spring onions, stirring until cheese has melted.


Well, lastly of course, pour the sauce over the gnocchi and serve at once.

P/s : Blue cheese smells really strong so u might wanna reduce the amount if you are not a fan of stinky smell. ;)

Pearl's Vegetarian Bruschetta

Pearl finally made her bruschetta. Here are the ingredients she used for the snack :

1 whole baguette
2 ripe tomatoes, diced
1 very huge onion, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons basil
a dash of salt to taste
some grated mozzarella

The baguette was first sliced and dabbed with olive. In another bowl, she mixed the diced ingredients with basil and salt.

She then topped the baguette with the mixed ingredients, then the grated mozzarella. I would have preferred feta instead of mozzarella, but Pearl insisted on the latter.

Bake the bruschetta in the oven at medium heat (approx. 100C) for 5 minutes or till the cheese melted.