I was all ready to try Isa's much raved about Tofu Ricotta in my very own lasagna this past weekend. Everyone in blogger land seems to be sharing similar vices for getting through the yucky winter weather that has gripped at least one hemisphere for the last month or so - Comfort Food.
There is no comfort food like my mom's cooking. She was the best for cooking just the right thing for her kids: Magic Squares (made with coconut, chocolate, and condensed milk), mac and cheese, cheese cake and of course - her amazing lasagnas. I am convinced that more than one of my boyfriends dated me purely for my mom's lasagnas. So, of course, I wanted to try and weave some of that magic into mine and Kevin's lazy Sunday, which we spent in bed, at the market and then on our respective coaches reading, suduko and crossword solving and physics tests marking - oh the wild lives of teachers.
I got to work on the Tofu Ricotta, changing the recipe only by the addition of some spinach. I was very mindful of Isa's warning to dry out the tofu as much as possible, which I did with some squeezing, patting and massaging. The recipe was dead easy to follow and it looked a doppelganger to Ricotta. Kevin came up short on his hunt for vegan lasagna noodles at the shop, so he made the executive decision and came home with cannelloni shells - good plan. But, alas, after being boiled for the 5 minutes recommended by the box instructions, they began to crack at the seams. I was unwilling to be beat by some wayward noodles, and decided to go with it and pulled them all apart, making exactly what I had wanted in the first place - a lasagna. Now, I will admit that in my lazy Sunday mode I did not make a sauce from scratch, but went with a nice Italian pre-made import to start and finish my layers - it was a pretty good sauce.
Alas, although I went in for seconds, I wasn't a happy camper. It just wasn't what I wanted. It wasn't my mom's lasagna, it was more like Aunt Jill's - love her loads, but she always used the more powdery cheese, versus my mom's pension for the gooey mozzarella. It just wasn't what I had wanted, and that made me a little sad.
All drama aside, it was a pretty good lasagna, might try to make a creamy cheese to go with each ricotta layer next time - I think that might bring me closer to the mecca that is my mother's comfort food talent.
Tonight I am making a Roasted Butternut Squash and Potato Soup. I have been roasting the squash all day, and can't wait to see how that will impact the flavouring of the soup.
I was all ready to try Isa's much raved about Tofu Ricotta in my very own lasagna this past weekend. Everyone in blogger land seems to be sharing similar vices for getting through the yucky winter weather that has gripped at least one hemisphere for the last month or so - Comfort Food.
There is no comfort food like my mom's cooking. She was the best for cooking just the right thing for her kids: Magic Squares (made with coconut, chocolate, and condensed milk), mac and cheese, cheese cake and of course - her amazing lasagnas. I am convinced that more than one of my boyfriends dated me purely for my mom's lasagnas. So, of course, I wanted to try and weave some of that magic into mine and Kevin's lazy Sunday, which we spent in bed, at the market and then on our respective coaches reading, suduko and crossword solving and physics tests marking - oh the wild lives of teachers.
I got to work on the Tofu Ricotta, changing the recipe only by the addition of some spinach. I was very mindful of Isa's warning to dry out the tofu as much as possible, which I did with some squeezing, patting and massaging. The recipe was dead easy to follow and it looked a doppelganger to Ricotta. Kevin came up short on his hunt for vegan lasagna noodles at the shop, so he made the executive decision and came home with cannelloni shells - good plan. But, alas, after being boiled for the 5 minutes recommended by the box instructions, they began to crack at the seams. I was unwilling to be beat by some wayward noodles, and decided to go with it and pulled them all apart, making exactly what I had wanted in the first place - a lasagna. Now, I will admit that in my lazy Sunday mode I did not make a sauce from scratch, but went with a nice Italian pre-made import to start and finish my layers - it was a pretty good sauce.
Alas, although I went in for seconds, I wasn't a happy camper. It just wasn't what I wanted. It wasn't my mom's lasagna, it was more like Aunt Jill's - love her loads, but she always used the more powdery cheese, versus my mom's pension for the gooey mozzarella. It just wasn't what I had wanted, and that made me a little sad.
All drama aside, it was a pretty good lasagna, might try to make a creamy cheese to go with each ricotta layer next time - I think that might bring me closer to the mecca that is my mother's comfort food talent.
Tonight I am making a Roasted Butternut Squash and Potato Soup. I have been roasting the squash all day, and can't wait to see how that will impact the flavouring of the soup.