What's For Dinner: One-Skillet Lasagna

You just need one skillet to cook up this delicious lasagna dish.

I love lasagna, but I don't love that most recipes take over an hour to bake and make enough servings to feed a small army. As much as I love leftovers, I don't want to eat the same thing that many times in a row.

That's where this recipe for skillet lasagna from America's Test Kitchen comes in. It totally fit the bill for my ideal recipe – around 30 minutes to make and just enough extra servings for a few lunchtime leftovers during the week.

I've been watching my dairy intake (urgh, spring is coming!), so I went a little light with the cheese, but it would be even better smothered in even larger scoops of ricotta cheese. (When does cheese not make things even better?)

And, at only 30 minutes, this recipe is completely compatible with weeknight cooking, and a hearty dinner will be on the table in no time.

One-Skillet Lasagna (printer-friendly version)

makes 4-6 servings 

28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small white onion, minced

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1⁄8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 pound 90% lean ground beef (I used ground venison, you could also use half ground beef and half pork)

5 curly-edged lasagna noodles (not no-boil), broken into 2-inch lengths

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

freshly ground black pepper

5 tablespoons part-skim ricotta cheese, divided

1 tablespoon minced fresh basil

1. Add the whole peeled tomatoes and their juices to a food processor and process until no large pieces remain; about 12 pulses. Set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the minced onion and salt and saute until golden; 5-7 minutes. Stir in the pressed garlic and red pepper flakes and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the ground beef and cook until no longer pink, breaking it apart into small pieces with a spoon as it cooks, about 5 minutes.
3. Place the broken lasagna pieces over top the meat, making a single or double layer. Pour the processed tomatoes over top the noodles. Cover, and increase the heat to medium-high. Simmer vigorously for about 20 minutes, or until the pasta is tender.
4. Turn off the heat and stir in half of the shredded mozzarella cheese and half of the grated Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add heaping tablespoons of ricotta cheese over the noodles, then sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Cover and let stand until the cheese has melted, about 3 minutes. Scatter with minced fresh basil before serving.

(adapted from this America's Test Kitchen recipe)

What's For Dessert: Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

Nothing says "summer" better than a strawberry-rhubarb crumble warm from the oven.

The combination of strawberry and rhubarb is a quintessential flavor of summer. And when that strawberry and rhubarb gets covered in a delicious sugary and buttery crumble? All the better in my book.

A couple of weeks ago, Dustin and I went strawberry picking at JP's Berries and Pumpkin Patch, a local farm located nearby in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. In less than 30 minutes, we picked around 9 pounds of berries.

Upon arrival home, I prepped the majority of the berries for the freezer. (I highly recommend using the straw trick to quickly hull the berries ... just poke a drinking straw through the bottom of the berry, and out pops the hull and leaves!)

Two quarts were set aside to eat fresh, and the remaining strawberries were destined for dessert. We also picked up a couple of pounds of freshly-harvested rhubarb at the farm, so the decision to make a strawberry-rhubarb crumble was basically a no-brainer.

I love a good crumble-to-fruit ratio, and this recipe delivers. The strawberry-rhubarb crumble can be served warm from the oven, at room temperature, or even chilled from the fridge. Just add a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream or freshly whipped cream and dessert is ready to be served.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble (printer-friendly version)

makes 8+ servings

For the topping:

1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup rolled oats

1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

1. Stir together the flour, oats, baking powder, sugars, cinnamon, and lemon zest.

2. Melt the butter over low heat. Add the melted butter to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Continue stirring until small to medium-sized crumbles form.

3. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the filling:

2 cups chopped rhubarb (1/2" slices) 

4 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup granulated sugar

juice of one lemon
zest of one lemon

pinch of fine sea salt

1. Combine the sliced rhubarb and strawberries in a large bowl. Stir in the cornstarch, sugar, lemon juice, and salt.

2. Let the fruit mixture sit for at least 15 minutes before putting together the whole dish.

To make the crumble:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Pour the fruit mixture into the bottom of an 9" x 13" baking dish. Make sure to spoon in any juices remaining in the bowl.

3. Top with the crumble mixture; be sure to cover the fruit mixture evenly with the crumbles.

4. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling.

5. Allow to cool before serving. Serve with a small (or large!) scoop of high-quality vanilla ice cream.

(adapted from this Smitten Kitchen recipe)

This post was originally posted on June 10, 2010. The post has been updated with new content and photos.

What's For Breakfast: French Toast

Make the morning special with freshly-baked French toast for breakfast.

Monday through Friday, my breakfast typically consists of a bowl of oatmeal or a piece of avocado toast with scrambled eggs on top. Both of these breakfasts take less than 10 minutes to make, which is ideal during the busy workweek. (Even if my office is only, like, 10 steps from the kitchen, given that I work from home.)

But when the weekend rolls around, I like to cook up something special. The something special should be pretty hearty, too, given that we normally skip our lunchtime meal on the weekends.

This past weekend Dustin's parents were in town, so after making the best buttermilk pancakes for breakfast on Saturday, I made French toast on Sunday. This French toast tastes like a dream and is super-filling.

The key to delicious French toast is to use the right bread. For this recipe, I'd recommend either challah (which is what I used) or brioche bread. You'll want to use something light and fluffy. You could use white bread in a pinch, but I really think you need to use a quality eggy bread for the best results. The bread should also be slightly stale. When necessary, I cheat a little by popping the sliced bread in the oven for about 3 minutes as the oven is warming up.

When topped with fresh berries, a dusting of powdered sugar, and a healthy drizzle of maple syrup, you've got the perfect breakfast meal for the weekend. Could someone please pass me a mimosa?

French Toast (printer-friendly version)
makes four servings

1 cup organic half-and-half
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
8 (1/2-inch) slices day-old challah bread
4 tablespoons butter

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet and set aside.
2. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt.
3. Dip the bread into the egg mixture for about 10 seconds per side. Place the dipped bread onto the prepped wire rack/baking sheet and let sit undisturbed for 1-2 minutes.
4. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place two slices of bread at a time on the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes per side. Place the cooked French toast on a rack in the oven and bake for 5 minutes.
5. Repeat step 4 with the remaining slices of bread.
6. Serve immediately with powdered sugar, fresh fruit, and maple syrup.

(adapted from this Alton Brown recipe)