Lasagna? Again? She said.

If ever a cat’s face said be very careful I might just eat you; it is this cat. I bet this cat would eat lasagna too! His name is Pixel. This cat and his brother are new to the house and have very sharp caws.

Anyway. Every time I travel to the home of one of my children there are requests for Mum to make their favourite foods.

Last night was lasagna.

vegetarian lasagna with the words thekitchensgarden/travel

The vegetarian lasagna is on everyones menu. And is always the first request. If I make a double batch of pasta I can do lasagna the first night and spaghetti later in the week. Yes. The food they request is from where they were children, when we were quite poor. Good solid home made food. The ingredients are not as cheap as they were.

Eggs are almost a dollar each, potatoes too – luckily I have a great source of local flour! from NZ grown wheat. And everyone has a plan to bring chickens into their gardens – Gardens and chickens are a match made in heaven.

cat looking out the window

Last night’s lasagna sauce was made with celery, onion, carrot, (the perfect beginning for a vege stock) then I added broccoli, red kidney beans, garlic and apple (for sweetness) all diced small and pan fried for a minute or two then cooked in a stock. Any stock – I used a vege stock. Once cooked I run the immersion blender through the sauce to sauce it up! Then add a couple of jars of tomato saved from the summer garden. Render down until thick.

Aubergine is a perfect addition to this sauce too but there were none in the fridge and I refuse to shop. All my dinners are made with what’s on hand.

This sauce is layered with the lasagna sheets, greens and béchamel sauce or cottage cheese.

Allow your lasagna to sit for at least two hours to settle well. Give it a few good taps on the bench to help the sauce settle up against the pasta.

Layer fresh breadcrumbs on top. Home made fresh bread crumbs so they were extra crunchy. The children play a game of guess the vegetable – to see if they can guess what vegetables I have hidden in the sauce. Though not until they have eaten and had a god think about the tastes. I can’t hide veges in their sauce anymore – they are onto me!

vegetarian lasagna

Tonight I am making Mama’s meatloaf – Fourth Son wants a few extra loaves for the freezer as well as dinner tonight. Which fills my Mama heart. You know how I love to feed people. My meatloaf is also made with 1/2 vegetables , 1/2 meat. Using egg to bind it.

Mama cleans out the fridge.

Have a lovely day! Or evening! Or night! We are all so international!

Celi

c

18 responses to “Lasagna? Again? She said.”

  1. I want some ground pork in my lasagna!!! And then the meatloaf!! That’s great your Kids still love Mommy’s recipe’s!!! I hate to tell ya Celi ~ but that cat is not near as pretty as yours here on the farm!! The corn n soybeans are suddenly growing big time with all this rain we’ve had ~ but it’s still kinda scattered. Every drop we’re thankful for!! We just had 1.5″ at our house Friday nite and right before that we had 1.1″ ~ and other areas had more than that ~ so many of us are very thankful!!! Keep on having a great time!!!

  2. Please explain the cat ears…odd fur tufts or odd ears in general? I haven’t had meatloaf in ages and now it sounds so good! Lucky family who Celi cooks for 🙂

  3. That lasagne sounds so delicious, first thing in the morning here and l’m imagining eating it for breakfast! Your lucky family. If my family read this post they would be green with envy🤢

  4. Your lasagna sounds so good. My kids/grandkids love it when I visit and cook for them too. Always fun. Paella is another way to clean out the fridge. That cat…

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