Kale & Mushroom Chip Fresh Lasagna (v)

     (made at home recently, for game night)

Ingredients:

2 # crimini mushrooms, sliced thickly
3 T cooking oil
salt & pepper TT

2 bu lacinato kale, sliced 1/2" thick
2 T cooking oil
salt & pepper TT

1 T cooking oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1/2 head garlic, cloves peeled & sliced
1 14oz can tomato puree (or crushed tomatoes)

2 oz nice olive oil
1 bu oregano, chopped
1 T molasses
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 14oz can San Marzano crushed tomatoes

6 sheets fresh pasta, cut into approximately 2" x 4" rectangles
1/2# ricotta cheese
3 medium balls fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Toss the mushrooms with the first 3 T oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast on a sheet pan for 30 minutes or until shriveled and crispy like little chips, but not yet burnt. Set aside.
3. Heat a large saute pan over high heat. Add 1 T cooking oil, then add half of the kale, season with salt and pepper and saute for 6-7 minutes. Repeat with the rest of the kale and the next 1 T cooking oil. Set aside.

4. Heat the saute pan again over medium-high heat, add the last 1 T cooking oil, then add the onions and garlic. Saute for 6-7 minutes, then add the can of regular tomato puree (or crushed tomatoes), cut the heat and stir. Season to taste.
5. Add the San Marzano tomatoes, olive oil, molasses, vanilla and oregano. This is the sauce.
6. In a pan, alternate layers of sauce, cheese, kale and mushrooms with the little rectangles of pasta to create little individual lasagnas. Cover them all with sauce, then bake covered in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Easy Fresh Lasagna

This is a great recipe if you can get your hands on some fresh pasta. If you can't, just use dried and pre-cook the lasagna sheets most of the way to compensate.

this is a condensed-format recipe, designed for a pocket recipe book called "Learn to Cook" I made and gave out to random people at the Pike Market for a few months in 2009. some of the ingredients may be difficult to find outside of the market, and can be substituted or disregarded.

3 cups crushed tomatoes (almost one large 28 oz can, minus the 1/2 C crushed tomatoes used in the Delicious Soup recipe)
1/2 head garlic [cloves peeled & sliced]
1 t kosher salt
2 large pinches black pepper
[combine half the garlic with the other ingredients in a saucepan and simmer on medium-low for 15 minutes]

1 bu broccoli rabe [wash and slice 1/2" thick to within a half inch of the stem]
2 T butter
[saute broccoli rabe and the remaining garlic in the butter for 5 minutes over medium-high heat and set aside]

1/4 lb fresh mozzarella cheese [slice thinly]
fresh or dried lasagna sheets to create 4-5 layers in your baking dish
[layer from bottom: sauce, pasta, greens, cheese, etc.. try to end on cheese]
[bake at 375 for 30 minutes]