Cash and Carried in the City

Awww...how we miss summer! I don't have any miserable photos of the current English weather and dug through our 'archives' to find something similar. This is a photo of Matt doing his magic on the grill in our old backyard. We had TONS of food and it was as close as we have ever come to a 'texas' bbq. Hopefully this summer we can have the chance to find some outdoor space to do the same...but the thought of carrying it around is daunting!

Anyway, the weather in London has been a little dreary since we got back. We've welcomed the rain for a couple of weekends, but after recouping from our trip we're getting a little cabin fever now. Sunday we invited one of my Grinnell College friends over for dinner. Her, being a vegetarian, and Matt always appreciating a good vegetarian meal, I decided to dig through one of my online recipe books to look for something tasty. It being the UK, I ALWAYS have trouble finding ingredients so I definitely try to look for simple recipes that are simple enough to make in our small kitchen. So, here was the winning dish, and probably the best lasagna I've made yet!

Artichoke Spinach Lasagna

cooking spray
9 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can vegetable broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 (14 ounce) can marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
1 (28 ounce) jar tomato pasta sauce
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 (4 ounce) package herb and garlic feta, crumbled

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and heat on medium-high. Saute onion and garlic for 3 minutes, or until onion is tender-crisp. Stir in broth and rosemary; bring to a boil. Stir in artichoke hearts and spinach; reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in pasta sauce.

Spread 1/4 of the artichoke mixture in the bottom of the prepared baking dish; top with 3 cooked noodles. Sprinkle 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese over noodles. Repeat layers 2 more times, ending with artichoke mixture and mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle crumbled feta on top.

Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover, and bake 15 minutes more, or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

We had plenty of leftovers and I can say that it was almost better the second time around. I'm hoping to continue to have a few new recipes in store. Matt & I have started the tradition of Sunday shopping which includes me finding recipes, making a list, and marching to the store to get everything on the list. For the last two weeks things have worked out perfectly and with a combination of a couple of vegetarian dishes with meat ones means that all the groceries fit in the fridge. Well, hope to hear from you all very soon...winter is going to be a long period to get through!