Quick and Easy Lasagna Recipe

Lasagna is an Italian baked pasta dish made with alternating layers of pasta sheets, cheese, tomato sauce and fillings. The pasta sheet can be flat or rippled. Rippled sheets are common in the US, but not so in Italy.

Although it looks complicated, it actually is a rather simple and fast procedure that involves placing layers into a baking dish. The time consuming part is the baking time, which takes approximately 45 minutes to an hour.

The following recipe I created incorporates some Eastern spice flavors. I also do not add eggs as in a traditional lasagna recipe. The taste is remarkably delicious - juicy, saucy and filling. And since I add vegetables as well as the meat, I think it is a healthy meal.

Quick and Easy Lasagna Recipe

Ingredients

1 medium sized onion, chopped
1 box Mushrooms
2 lbs ground beef
1 can tomato sauce (containing oregano and basil)
1 box lasagna flat sheets
1 box Frozen Mixed Vegetables
Fresh spinach
Mozarella cheese
Olive Oil
Salt, Ginger and Garlic
All-spice powder

Procedure

1) Add some olive oil into a pan, then add the ginger and garlic, salt, all-spice powder, chopped onions and ground beef. Cook until the beef is properly browned.

2) Add the mushrooms to the pan, and stir for a few minutes. Then keep the pan aside.

3) Pre-heat the oven to 375 F.

4) Take out the baking dish, and spoon out some tomato sauce into the dish. Spread the tomato sauce all over. Then lay out the first layer of the pasta flat sheet. Use the type that does not require pre-boiling as it saves time.

5) Then spread out the pre-cooked beef. Add the frozen vegetables and fresh spinach over the beef. Then spoon out tomato sauce, and sprinkle mozarella cheese all over. Place second layer of pasta flat sheet on top of the cheese.

6) Repeat step 5 until the dish is almost full.

7) On stop of the last layer of the pasta flat sheet, pour out the remaining tomato sauce, and sprinkle mozarella sheet all over.

8) Cover with aluminium foil, and place into the oven for 45 minutes to an hour.

Serve the lasagna with fresh salad, and crusty bread.

Simple Pita Bread Recipe

As my readers should know by now, I love pita bread. Pita bread is traditionally used in Middle Eastern and eastern Mediterranean cuisines, where the bread is a staple. The pita bread is a flat bread with a large pocket inside, which forms as it cooks quickly at high temperatures. The pocket is ideal for placing any of your favourite fillings - take your pick. I have even spread peanut butter and honey in a pita pocket as a pick-me-up snack.

But usually, people make sandwich pita rolls with meat and vegetables as in the Middle Eastern restaurants. I use it to make sandwich rolls and homemade pita chips, as well as occasionally dipping it in soups. I frequently buy fresh pita bread from the Middle Eastern grocery store. But as I have written about in the past, pita bread price inflation has made buying pita bread an expense. Because of that, I decided to attempt to make my own pita bread at home!

In the Middle East, pita is made in brick ovens, where very high heat can be achieved. It is very hard to duplicate in a home kitchen, but this easy recipe below adapted from a video I found, combined with high heat comes very close.



The dough is very easy to work with and comes together quickly. In fact, the only time-consuming part is cooking them. Each pita cooks quickly, but you have to be there the whole time to monitor their progress. The resulting pitas a delicious and well worth the effort.

Note: You can substitute 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour in this recipe without sacrificing anything in terms of the texture of the finished product.

Pita Bread Ingredients

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/2 tsp)
1 1/2 cups water, warm (105-115F)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3-4 cups all-purpose flour

Procedure

Combine sugar, water and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes, until slightly foamy. Stir in salt and 3 cups of flour, until dough is smooth. Add remaining flour, a tablespoon or two at a time, mixing until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl into a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 4-5 minutes. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size, 1.5 hours.


Turn on your broiler, leaving the rack in the center of the oven, and very lightly oil a baking sheet. Punch the dough down and divide it into 10 even pieces. Shape each into ball by grasping the corners of each piece and pinching them together. Cover the balls with a clean dish towel and allow the dough to rest, for 15 minutes so they will be easier to roll out. Roll out until balls form circles about 1/8 inch thick. Place on baking sheet (you may have to do them in groups of only 2 as in the picture) and broil for 2 minutes, until lightly browned. Flip over and broil again for 1.5 - 2 minutes, until browned. You may have to adjust the cooking time a bit, depending on how hot your broiler gets.Remove from oven and cool between kitchen towels to keep the pitas soft. Once they are cool, store in an airtight container.

This recipe made 10 pitas.

Peanut Cookies

This is not a low-fat recipe, so be forewarned. But peanut cookies are a once-in-a-while indulgence of mine, which is necessary for the enjoyment of my life! Peanut cookies are usually made around Hari Raya in Malaysia and Singapore. When I was growing up, one of life's simpler pleasures was awaiting the end of the fasting month, so I could partake in the delicious treats made at home for the Hari Raya celebration, one of the treats I loved being the peanut cookies. Now that I am away from home, I try to replicate the treats I enjoyed when I was younger.

This recipe I tried is fantastic because it is so easy to follow. If I could do it, I think anyone can because I am not much of a baker.

Peanut Cookies

Ingredients:

250g ground peanut powder

200g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

110g icing sugar (or castor sugar)

1/4 tsp salt

140g corn oil (or peanut oil)
Egg wash:1 egg yolk lightly beaten with 1 tsp water

Method:

Mix ground peanut powder, plain flour, baking powder, icing sugar and salt in a big mixing bowl till well combined. Pour in oil slowly and mix till a dough is formed. You might need a little more than the stated amount if the dough is too dry. Shape into small bite-size pieces. Place about 2cm apart on lined baking sheet. Apply egg wash. Bake at 170C for 18-22 minutes or till golden brown.

Notes:

You can buy ready-made peanut ground powder, but I like to do it myself - I think it tastes better that way. Roast 250 grams of peanuts in a pan, then grind them into powder in a blender.

Use icing sugar instead of castor sugar to get a finer textured cookie.

Do not add too much oil or the cookie will be too crumbly.

Enjoy!