I have a strong tendency to be lazy on weeknights. When I get home from work, I’m usually ready to lay around on the couch for a while. The one thing I don’t want to do right when I get home is make dinner. That’s why our normal dinnertime is 7:30 or 8:00. It’s also why I only tackle “big” recipes on the weekend!
On Friday, I made butternut squash and spinach lasagna from a recipe that had been sitting in my files for a while. (Squash lasagna? I was intrigued!) I made a couple modifications and had one misstep, but it still turned out yummy and — like any lasagna recipe — there were a TON of leftovers.
- I used fresh butternut squash instead of frozen. To make sure it cooked thoroughly, we cut the pieces pretty small and cooked it for a full 30 minutes.
- I left out the sage, because we didn’t have any. Sad face.
- I used a 30-ounce tub of ricotta, but only ~5 cups of Italian cheese. It was still plenty cheesy.
- I used “no-boil” lasagna noodles. This worked fine for the bottom and middle layers since they were covered with filling. But the top layer of noodles was covered only with cheese, and 30 minutes in the oven turned those noodles into crispy cheesy sticks — and not in an appetizing way. Fortunately they were easy to just pull off the top. I threw on some more cheese, baked it just long enough to melt the new cheese, and we ate the lasagna without a top noodle layer.
On Saturday, I made Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Tortilla Soup. Jose specifically requested this one and even found the recipe himself. The spices are garlic powder, chili powder, cumin and salt. According to Jose, cumin is basically the smell of all Mexican food, and reminds him vividly of his grandma’s kitchen. So there you go!
This soup was actually very easy to make, but you have to plan ahead because you’ve got to cook the chicken first and let it cool enough to shred it, and then the soup itself simmers for almost 1.5 hours. I started around 5:30 and we ate at 8:00. But you don’t really have to monitor it; as long as you’re home, you can do other stuff while this cooks. I only made 2 minor changes:
- I used WAY more onion, bell pepper and garlic than the recipe called for. Because onion, bell pepper, and garlic are yummy.
- I used about 1.5 times the amount of spices, since I’ve made several Pioneer Woman recipes now and often find them a bit under-seasoned for my tastes. This was a good decision too, as we both felt the flavor turned out pretty perfect.
It turned out SO YUMMY, in fact, Jose said it may be the best thing I’ve ever made him.
And that’s saying a lot since just that afternoon I’d made him toffee chip cookies.
(It was a yummy weekend.)
I had a bunch of yellow squash and zucchini I added to a lasagna once and now make it a regular staple. To avoid prep work and ensure it cooks, just slice it thing and add it as a layer in the sauce/cheese/noodle layering. If you have a mandolin that would work best, but I just use a knife and slice it up.
isn’t a mandolin a musical instrument? How do you slice squash with a tiny guitar? 🙂
I standby my lack of desire to mix squashes with spaghetti sauce (with my pumpkin ravioli exception, but to be fair, I was planning a white sauce for that).
also, i have a fabulous squash soup recipe Roger gave me just like his mom used to make. very colorful if you use multiple squash types. it was very useful when my CSA was sending me boxes of squashes. tons and tons of cumin, definitely smells like texas homecooked food :
Yeah, but it’s also a cooking utensil.
This lasagna didn’t have red sauce.
Send me Roger’s recipe!
Emailed you the recipe.
I had to look up a picture of a mandoline.
I didn’t notice that the lasagna didn’t have red sauce, it is somehow much more appealing to me now. when are you going to have me over to dinner? 🙂
YUM. These look really good. I’m saving the lasagna recipe – thanks for sharing!
If y’all are ever craving tortilla soup, but need a quickie version, let me know. I have a go-to one that is basically mixing several cans of soup/veggies/beans and a rotisserie chicken. You can add in whatever spices you like (like the ones in the PW version!) and it’s crazy tasty. Comes together in 30 min!
I’ve been on a cooking kick lately, so I love seeing these recipes – thanks!