Vegetarian Lasagna

Vegetarian Lasagna
Originally found at Squidoo

2 26 oz jars of spaghetti sauce (or enough homemade sauce to be the equivalent)
1 small zucchini
1 medium sized onion
1 large carrot
1 bell pepper
1 clove garlic
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
grated parmesan cheese
1 box lasagna noodles
oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop onion and saute in a bit of oil. Cut the carrot and add it to the onion. Cut the zucchini in half, then slice thinly. Chop the bell pepper and add the zucchini and bell pepper to the onion and carrots. Mince or crush the garlic and add to the other vegetables. Cook until tender, then add the sauce.

In a casserole dish, pour a thin layer of spaghetti sauce. Add noodles, then more sauce, then the cheese (both mozzarella and parmesan). Continue to layer the lasanga until you run out of ingredients, or your pan is full. If able, pour remaining sauce over the noodles to cover completely. Do not cover with cheese (yet).

Bake uncovered for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and add mozzarella on top. Return to oven for 10-15 minutes, until cheese is warm and bubbly and noodles are cooked through.

My Notes:

I used dried onion and garlic, and it seemed to work great. I also omitted the parmesan (by accident; I tend to do that a lot). This dish actually went to the Ronald McDonald House here in town, so I didn't get to eat it myself, but it looked and smelled really good, and my test of the noodles was yummy, so I might just have to make it again for myself. One of these days.

Easy Extra-Cheesy Grilled Cheese

Easy Extra-Cheesy Grilled Cheese
Originally found in Southern Living Magazine (Oct 08, p 152)

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
8 Italian bread slices
4 (3/4 oz) provolone cheese slices
4 (3/4 oz) mozzarella cheese slices

Mix butter and parmesan cheese in a small bowl. Spread 1 1/2 tsp butter mixture on 1 side of each bread slice. Place 4 bread slices, butter side down, on wax paper. Top with provolone and mozzarella cheeses; top with remaining bread slices, buttered sides up. Cook sandwiches on a hot griddle or nonstick skillet over medium heat, gently pressing with a spatual, 4 minutes on each side of until golden brown and cheese is melted.

My Notes:

I love grilled cheese sandwiches, but I've always had them the traditional way (with white bread and American cheese), else I didn't like them. Well, last year when I went on one of my med school interviews, I went to this hole-in-the-wall restaurant with my student host and some of her friends. They had a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich there, consisting of cheeses like Gouda and whatnot. It intrigued me.

Flash forward several months. I'm flipping through some of my magazines (seeing if there are any articles or anything I want to keep, else I just toss out the whole magazine), and I came across this grilled cheese sandwich recipe, and I just now got around to making it.

It's delicious. And I think it's the first time that I've really managed to make grilled cheese without burning it. It was so gooey and yummy that there really aren't words to describe it. I do think it needed something, maybe a side of soup or something (I don't do tomato soup with my grilled cheese, generally, because I've only found like one tomato soup that I actually like), but it was still really yummy.