It’s no secret that I like to cook. Cooking is one of my favorite creative outlets (and creating dirty dishes is lots of fun too). Sounds funny I know…what’s creative about chopping vegetables night after night? Well sometimes, when I’m feeling extra sassy,… I decide to SHRED vegetables in my food processor instead. Ta dah!
I’m telling you, I’m super creative.
Some afternoons I find myself inspired to create a new spin on an old dish, as I did today. I decided I wanted to make lasagna. I have no idea why because we never eat lasagna. But in my mind I saw visions of pesto and shredded zucchini and decided Kula Baby needed a nap so I could get cooking.
Hiding vegetables is not something I’ve always thought was important. I remember thinking years ago (BEFORE having a child): “Why the hell are parents HIDING VEGETABLES–kids should learn to LOVE vegetables because they are goooood stuff.”
Yes I realize the naive arrogance one can project before having kids. I get it, I get it. I’m all for hiding as many vegetables as possible now, hence the SECRET spinach pesto in this lasagna. Enjoy!
Super Secret Pesto Lasagna
- 4 small to medium zucchini shredded in food processor
- 1 small sweet onion finely diced or shredded
- 1 1/2 cup secret spinach pesto recipe below
- 1/2 pound cooked ground turkey
- 1 package rice lasagna noodles uncooked
- 1 1/2-2 cup mozzarella cheese (again, choose the amount of cheese you like.)
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup feta cheese
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 2 cups organic spinach packed
- 1 cup fresh basil packed
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- juice of one lemon
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
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Shred zucchini in a food processor and set aside in a bowl. Take 3/4 cup of pesto and add to shredded zucchini. Stir to combine. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
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Place onion in a frying pan on stove and lightly saute for a few minutes (3ish) in a little butter, salt and pepper. Add the dried basil and mix to combine.
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Add the cooked onions to your zucchini mixture. Stir in pine nuts. Add parmesan and feta cheese. Mix it all up.
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Put cooked ground turkey into a separate bowl and add the rest of the pesto mixture. Stir to combine.
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In a prepared 9x13 baking dish, spread a little of the zucchini mixture on the bottom. Add a layer of noodles (uncooked). Spread some turkey over the noodles. Add a layer of zucchini. Sprinkle a generous amount of mozzarella cheese. Repeat the process until you use all your fillings. Top with remaining cheese and bake covered at 375 degrees for 1 hour. I take the top off the pan for the last 5 minutes to let the cheese brown a little cause I'm crazy like that.
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(I will warn you now...I am bad with ingredient amounts when it comes to pesto because I usually wing it myself--I'm pretty sure you can't mess it up too badly so get adventurous! Taste your creation at the end and keep adding ingredients until you are happy.)
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I'm sure there is an art to making pesto, but I just throw everything into the food processor except the olive oil and blend it up. I drizzle in the oil until I get the right consistency and then I taste it and adjust as needed. I told y'all I'm not a chef, right? 🙂
