Layered Lemon Dessert

This post is for my sister-in-law Beth. Beth is soon to be a first time Mom, and last I heard, citrus had been among her cravings.

This week at work my office moved, and to "celebrate" there was a company bbq. Dan did a great job grilling, and everyone else brought something for a potluck. I volunteered a "summery lemon dessert", but needed a recipe. I wanted something super super easy, a little creamy, and with good lemon flavor. www.allrecipes.com ended up having just tons of different versions of lemon desserts. The ones that sounded best were all layered with cream cheese and lemon pudding. Most of the recipes called for a homemade crust using a food processor. Normally I'm all for being very homemade, but I just wanted something I could throw together without turning the oven on, and that would taste great. Instead of cutting flour with butter, pressing and baking, I bought ginger snap cookies, broke them into pieces, and made a "crust". A "first layer" may be more appropriate since they didn't end up covering the whole bottom, and got slightly incorporated into the second layer. The coolness of the rest of the dessert really cuts the heat of the ginger (good for those who don't like ginger that well), but the ginger and lemon make a wonderful flavor combination. I also wanted to really taste the lemon flavor, so I added the juice and zest of a lemon to "zest" things up a bit. I think it worked really well, and Greg agrees. There is so much sugar in here that the extra lemon doesn't make the dessert tart at all, but just really "bright".

Greg got to have a serving or two when I got home from work. This is one of those desserts that you can easily just take a forkful of, walk away, and come back again in 30 minutes. It seems pretty light, which is great, and it is cool, which is wonderful. We'll be making this again because it is so delicious, very easy, and can serve at least 20 people.

Recipe

2 1/2 C. of crushed/broken ginger snap cookies
1 package of lemon pudding
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1 tub of cool whip
1 lemon
1 C. powdered sugar
1 1/2 C. milk

-Spread ginger snap pieces on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan
-In a mixer, mix the cream cheese, 1 C. of cool whip, powdered sugar, and juice from the lemon until smooth.
-Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the ginger snaps, gently spreading across the pan.
-Mix the milk and pudding, pour over the cream cheese mixture and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
-Spread the remaining cool whip on top of the set pudding.
-Cover the top of the cool whip with the lemon zest.
-Cover and serve cold.

-Enjoy!!!

Spinach Lasagna

Yum! This lasagna is my ideal comfort food. I found the recipe in a Fine Cooking magazine. One of my favorite things about Fine Cooking is that it is very artisanal; each issue teaches readers how to make fantastic food completely from scratch. This makes it even easier for me to play with ingredients since I have so many more chances to do so!

Greg actually helped make this with me this past weekend, it was a great date night! Because he did half the work, we did not vary from the recipe much. The main thing we did was to NOT cover the top of the dish in butter, and instead of making a tomato sauce from scratch, we used the jar of marinara we had in the fridge. Other than that, we replaced the whole milk/cream products with low fat and skim. We always do this and we've never had a problem with a sauce or filling not having the right consistency or flavor.

This recipe is so good I'm actually a little sad that it's almost getting to hot outside to make it. This is a great cool weather dinner. It also re-heats really well, and the flavors become more bold the next day.

Recipe:

Filling:
1 1/2 lb (3C) ricotta
2 10 oz. frozen spinach
1/4C shortening, melted
1/2 C yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1/2 C grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
dash of nutmeg

Cream Sauce:
3 tbs butter
3 tbs flour
1 3/4 C skim milk
1/4 C parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
dash of nutmeg
1/2 tsp basil

-Cook 3/4 lb. noodles as directed, set aside

-Melt butter over medium low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Slowly add in the milk and bring to a simmer, while whisking. Slowing add in the cheese, continue whisking. Reduce heat and whisk often to reduce the sauce. If the consistency is too watery, increase the temp. briefly while whisking, as not to burn the sauce. Once it is to a gravy like consistency, remove from heat and stir in the basil, salt and pepper. Cover and set aside.

- Thaw the spinach, pat dry if needed.

-Melt Butter in a large skillet, add onion and sauté until translucent. Add garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes. Add spinach and toss to coat, transfer to a bowl and cool to room temp (faster if you put it in the freezer for a bit). Once cooled, mix the spinach, ricotta, parmigiano, eggs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Set aside.

-In a greased 9x13, put a thin layer of marinara sauce. Then cover with a layer of noodles. Spread on 1/3 each of the spinach mix, marinara, cream sauce, and noodles. Repeat. Cover last layer of noodles with a dusting of parmigiano-reggiano. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

-Enjoy!