Pasta Possession

I don't know what possessed me, on a warm summer day, to turn on the oven and bake a lasagne. I like to create new dishes out of leftovers, and wanted to make use of the three meatballs and sauce from the delicious spaghetti my DH made earlier in the week. I had not made lasagne in a long time and figured it was a good idea now. I completely forgot how long it took to prep this particular pasta dish...thankfully I had most of the meat and sauce part taken care of already. But still....

I used the pre-cooked pasta sheets, for ease of prep and sanity's sake. These require more liquid than the type of pasta one must cook, so I had to make more sauce. This entailed sauteeing onions, garlic, and mushrooms, adding leftover wine (can you imagine such a thing as leftover wine?) and tomato paste, fresh basil, and water. The extra liquid makes this type of lasagne sometimes soggy, so I didn't over do it. Instead, after assembly, I refrigerated it for a few hours to allow the pasta to start softening.

By the time I had it all together and washed all of the bowls, spatulas, spoons, measuring cups, and other paraphernalia, I was pooped.


The fruits of my labor. It was tasty, but my all-time favorite lasagne recipe is still the one on the San Giorgio lasagne noodle box.

I figured since I had the oven on, I'd make dessert too...a nice baked, non-raw-peach, Kathy-friendly dish I call:

Peach Crisp

3 large ripe or nearly-ripe peaches, sliced
1 tblsp sugar
ground ginger
cinnamon

2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick very cold butter

sliced almonds or other nuts, optional

Place peaches in an 8 x 8 baking dish. Sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, and ginger, and toss to coat. Cover and set aside.

Place the brown sugar and flour into a bowl. Cut the butter into tiny pieces and rub it through the flour/sugar mixture with your fingers until it's the texture of coarse crumbs and a handful squeezed will stick together. Break up clumps, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. Pour crumb mixture over peaches and top with nuts. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly and brown. Serve warm with vanilla or butter pecan ice cream.

Serves 4-6.