Another Tasty Veggie Casserole for Meatless Monday

Janet here: I know I've been a bit of a casserole stalker in recent weeks of Faith Durand's new cookbook, Not Your Mother's Casseroles, but I can't help it. Every damn thing I make is killer. (See squash casserole here or her broccoli, cauliflower and onion one here.)

This artichoke and spinach casserole is yet another example. Thanks to the addition of ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan it seems sinfully close to eating a dinner of artichoke and spinach dip (not that I've ever considered doing that). The recipe is officially called a tian, which means nothing to me and seemed a little like the debate surrounding a fruit crisp or crumble. I did a little research, though, and it appears a tian originated in Provence and that it's a casserole that contains cheese and grains and is usually topped with bread crumbs.

The bread crumbs thing should be in this recipe but as you can see from the recipe, mine doesn't. That's because I cleverly put the whole thing together — with a lovely layer of garlic bread crumbs on top — popped it all in the oven and realized five minutes later as I was cleaning up the kitchen that, oops, the rice was still sitting on top of the stove. I quickly took the dish out and just mixed the rice in, meaning my bread crumbs were now inside the dish.

It did not ruin the taste one little bit. G, the son who for most of his young life refused to put a single green thing into his mouth, had seconds. 'Nuff said.

Spinach and Artichoke Tian with Garlic Bread Crumbs
serves 6-8

ingredients
1/2 cup short grain white rice
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 16-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 12-ounce packages frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and drained (I used canned instead and it was just fine)
1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 large eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

ingredients for bread crumb topping
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
olive oil

method
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9X13 baking pan.

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add the rice. Cook for 10 minutes, then drain. Set aside (but don't forget about it!).

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it is golden and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, salt and pepper and cook for another few minutes, or until the garlic is golden and translucent.

Pat the spinach and artichokes dry with a paper towel. Combine in a large bowl with the ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Fold in the drained rice, cooked onions and garlic, and then the eggs and nutmeg. Spread in the baking dish.

To make the bread crumbs, whiz the garlic, salt, pepper, bread crumbs and Parmesan in a food processor until well combined. Sprinkle evenly over the casserole and drizzle with additional olive oil.

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until firm and golden. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Rachel and Julia...Omelettes!

Rachel here: One of the perks to having a baby is the justification of television watching. We don't have cable at our house and so the options are often pretty grim. However, on Saturdays here, there are tons of cooking shows on public television. One recent Saturday there was a Julia Child marathon. The whole thing was awesome, but the episode that really caught my attention was the egg episode. Click here to watch a clip from the episode. I swear you, too, will want to make omelettes afterwards!

I should warn you, though. I can make an omelette, sure. But a Julia Child omelette is a whole different beast. While she makes it look effortless, as you might be able to tell from my picture (which is really only half an omelette since I had the brilliant idea to make a giant omelette for John and I to share...not recommended when you're trying to master a new technique. Fewer eggs would definitely have been easier!), it's a little more complex than Julia makes it seem.

I'm determined, though, to master these scrumptious french omelettes. John can make them and, really, they're superior to their overcooked counterpart that serves as the standard. When done right, they're incredibly soft and gooey. I'll keep you posted as my efforts continue. In the meantime, I can recommend the insides I chose to stuff our omelette with (heirloom tomatoes, white onion, ricotta and goat cheeses) and serving it with a side salad of arugula. Even in an overcooked omelette I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy your meal.

Homemade Pasta

Rachel here: When John and I were first together, one of our favorite things to do was cook. Prior to meeting John, I worked in restaurants and lived alone. Outside of work (where I was heartily fed), I mainly subsisted on grits and fruit. Though I would definitely relate differently to cooking for myself now than I did then, at the age of 19 or 20, my top goal in eating at home was to generate as few dirty dishes as possible. Anyway, enter John. Here was a man who not only enjoyed but excelled at cooking, who wanted to make me dishes of food I had never tried and who genuinely enjoyed eating. On our way home from work, walking our bikes instead of riding so that we could talk, we'd more often than not get to talking about dinner and stop by the grocery store en route to pick up the various ingredients we'd need to make whatever had struck our fancy. To shop and eat in this fashion felt incredibly luxurious. Fast forward five years and, as a general rule, we no longer spend our afternoons and evenings planning and generating whimsical meals. We are busy, busy bees these days and no longer live nearly across the street from a fantastic grocery as we did in our earlier days. Still, though, one of my favorite ways to spend the twilight hours of a weekend home with John is over a completely homemade meal that we have prepared together. The food tastes and feels so good and I couldn't ask for better company.

This past weekend afforded us just such a window to get into the kitchen together. A few years back, John convinced me that homemade pasta is significantly better than its store-bought counterpart and, though we usually end up eating the latter for its convenience, this weekend John taught me how to make pasta by myself. It is surprisingly easy, though it does take a little muscle, and we generated two lasagnas from our endeavors, one for dinner and one for the freezer for the days after M makes her grand debut. If you've never tried your hand at pasta making before, I highly recommend that you give it a whirl. It is simple and satisfying and really, truly the best way to eat pasta.


Ingredients
1 egg (supposedly the fresher the better)
1 c. all-purpose flour
water
semolina flour

Method
In a large bowl, form the all-purpose flour into a well. Crack the egg into the center of the well and stir with a fork. As you stir the egg, it will gradually pull flour in. Keep at this until you are completely unable to stir anymore. At this juncture, add a teaspoon of water. Once all of your flour has been combined with another ingredient (either egg or water, or both), turn it out onto your countertop. Knead, twist and fold diligently until the dough becomes incorporated. Add more water, no more than a teaspoon at a time, whenever you are convinced that there isn't a single additional drop of moisture to be utilized towards forming a coherent ball of dough. This kneading process should take at least 15 minutes (in my experience). Once you have a ball of dough, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and let rest for 45 minutes. Roll it out as thinly as you desire (either using a pasta roller or a rolling pin) and then cut into your desired shape. I folded my dough, dusting it with semolina flour between layers so the pasta wouldn't stick to itself, before cutting so I could get uniform shapes. Voila! Cook as you would normally cook pasta, though you should know that homemade pasta will cook noticeably faster than the dried store-bought stuff.



For our lasagna, we mixed chopped scallions and basil in with the ricotta (along with some salt and pepper) and sauteed spinach and mushrooms with garlic before layering everything with parmesan cheese and tomato sauce. Yum! What will you do with your delicious pasta?



Janet here: What I plan to do with the delicious lasagna I now know is waiting for me, not M, is eat it and enjoy every last bite. I know for a fact that homemade pasta is absolutely the way to go, but the likelihood that I will add this to my culinary life in the near future is, well, zero. I will, however, promise to fill the hole in the freezer that is made when I eat Rachel and John's lasagna.