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Lasagne

I decided to use some of that tomato sauce I canned last summer to make lasagne. I started by cranking out two servings of sheet pasta on my Kitchenaid pasta rollers. No, they aren't pretty. I finally decided after a few tries that thicker sheets were more in keeping with my pasta skills. The sheets turned out to be thin enough without turning them into cheesecloth.

I mixed together a filling of eggs, ricotta, and Parmesan cheese.

Eggplants are sponges. They hold all sorts of water; if you can get rid of the water, they soak up lots of flavor. Freezing lasagne is a perfect way to accomplish this goal---you just squeeze the eggplant pieces like sponges once they thaw out. Once that was done, I cut up the eggplant and sautted it for a few minutes.

I also microwaved some frozen vegetables to add to the mix.

I coated the bottom of the pan with olive oil. I then put down a bottom layer of pasta sheets, using the ugly ones first.

Next came a thick layer of filling, using somewhat more than half the bowl of filling.

That was followed by a layer of tomato sauce.

I put the mixed vegetables on top of the sauce.

Next came a pasta layer, the rest of the filling, and the eggplant.

I finished the lasagne with another layer of pasta and the remainder of the tomato sauce. No bechamel---my friend Tom considers bechamel on lasagne a capital offense.

After 45 minutes at 350 degrees, I pulled it out of the oven.

I let the dish cool for 15 minutes then dug in. Fresh pasta coupled with ricotta gives the entire dish a soft, comforting warmth that is hard to beat. I really enjoyed my dinner and I have enough for two more meals.

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