Sunday lunch # 4 - Three flower lasagna



I was so happy and excited when Rebecca, from Chow and Chatter, a dietitian and a mom of a beautiful little princess, asked me to write a guest post for her. So, you can find my post HERE as well.
The plan I had for lunch last Sunday was just perfect.
I had bought lots of veggies the day before, and I knew I wanted to use my three flowers (cauliflower, broccoli and Romanesco broccoli) for something special.
What's more perfect for a Sunday family lunch than a lasagna?
My flowers fit in perfectly, combined with a delicious cheese sauce, instead of bechamel sauce, they were a real treat and yet quite light. We were going to a birthday party later that afternoon and didn't want to feel heavy.
Here's just some information about them. I like to know why certain foods are good for me, not only that they are good for something:



Broccoli is high in vitamins C, K, and A, as well as dietary fiber; it also contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties. A high intake of broccoli has been found to reduce the risk of aggressive prostate cancer and is beneficial in the prevention of heart disease.
The benefits of broccoli are greatly reduced if the vegetable is boiled more than ten minutes, and it is better to steam, microwave or stirfry them in order not to reduce the benefits of anticancer properties.

Cauliflower is low in fat, high in dietary fiber, folate, water and vitamin C, possessing a very high nutritional density. Like broccoli, cauliflower contains anticancer compounds. Cauliflower can be roasted, boiled, fried, steamed or eaten raw. The florets should be broken into similar-sized pieces so they are cooked evenly. After eight minutes of steaming, or five minutes of boiling, the florets should be soft, but not mushy (depending on size).

Romanesco Broccoli (or Roman Cauliflower or broccoflower or coral broccoli) is a variety of cauliflower. It is rich in vitamin C, fiber, and carotenoids. The texture is more tender than cauliflower, making it suited to raw use as crudités.


The Stracchino cheese is a fresh, soft Italian cheese, but nothing like ricotta or cream cheese. It's a bit gooey and it melts perfectly in cooking. It's used as a dessert cheese, but also put on focaccia or pizza, or to stuff piadina. It can be introduced into kids' diet at an early stage, because it's natural, without preservatives.



WHITE VEGETARIAN LASAGNA
(*medium difficulty ** 2 servings / 345 cal per serving)
Ingredients:


4 sheets of pasta for lasagna
1 zucchini
1 carrot
1 stalk of celery
200 g broccoli
100 g cauliflower (I used both white and green or Romanesce cauliflower) 1/2 onion
200 g strachino cheese
100 ml milk
50 g grated Grana or Parmigiano cheese
extra virgin olive oil
salt


If you're using dry pasta, boil it for a couple minutes and let dry.
I used fresh pasta and didn't boil it but used directly and it cooked perfectly.
Cut the cleaned/washed zucchini, the carrot, and celery into small cubes.




Separate the broccoli and cauliflowers into smallest florets.


Chop finely the onion and saute with 2 tablespoons of EVOO in a deep skillet. Add the zucchini, the carrot and celery and stirfry for 5 minutes.


Add the white cauliflower florets and continue to stirfry.


After 5 more minutes add the broccoli and the green cauliflower. Salt to taste.


Cook covered for about 10 minutes at medium-low heat, adding 2 tablespoons of water occasionally, so that the vegetables cook slowly but do not get mushy or overcooked.
Combine the stracchino cheese with milk and 15 g grated cheese, and a pinch of salt, and process with an immersion blender until smooth.


Oil a deep baking dish (mine is 20x15 cm) and spread some vegetables and a little cheese sauce.


Place one sheet of pasta, top with 1/3 of vegetables


and some cheese sauce. Sprinkle generously with grated parmigiano cheese.


Continue in this order until you've finished all ingredients. Finish with the cheese sauce and grated Parmigiano on top.


Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C for about 25 minutes.


Let it cool a little before serving.




(Ita)
LASAGNE VEGETARIANE


Domenica a pranzo ho preparato questa lasagna davvero buona, deliziosa e cremosa. Una goduria. Lo so, a molti non piacciono i cavolfiori per il loro profumo caratteristico che si espande per tutta la casa. Ma sono molto importanti e dovremmo cercare tutti di mangiarli più spesso.
Tutti e tre contengono la vitamina C, fibre, sono poco calorici, e soprattutto contengono le importanti sostanze anticancerogene (in modo particolare riguardano il tumore alla prostata). Però un po' di attenzione, bollendoli nell'acqua (per più di 10 minuti) queste sostanze diminuiscono. Quindi, è consigliabile cucinarli a vapore, nel forno a microonde o saltare in padella, perché cucinati in questo modo, non perdono il loro valore.


Ingredienti:
(*difficoltà media **per 2 persone / 345 cal per porzione)


4 sfoglie fresche per lasagna
1 zucchina
1 carota
1 costa di sedano
200 g di broccoli
100 g di cavolfiori (bianchi e verdi)
1/2 cipolla 200 g di stracchino
100 ml di latte
50 g di grana o parmigiano grattugiato
olio extra vergine di oliva
sale


Tagliate le zucchine, le carote e il sedano a dadini.
Soffriggete la cipolla tritata in una padella con due cucchiai di olio, unite le verdure tagliate a dadini e cuocetele per 5 minuti girando spesso.
Aggiungete le cimette di cavolfiore bianco e continuate a cuocere mescolando. Dopo altri cinque minuti aggiungete anche le cimette dei broccoli e il cavolfiore Romanesco. Salate a piacere.
Cuocete per circa 10 minuti coperto, aggiungendo un paio di cucchiai d'acqua ogni tanto. Le verdure devono solo ammorbidirsi un po'.
Frullate lo stracchino, il latte e 15 g di Parmigiano grattugiato e una presa di sale.
Alternate in una pirofila strati di pasta (ho usato la pasta fresca senza sbollentarla prima), verdure, salsa di formaggio e Parmigiano. Terminate con solo salsa di formaggio e Parmigiano.
Cuocete in forno a 200°C per circa 25 minuti.

Naturalmente, non volevo dimenticare la cara Betty e la sua Raccolta di Stagione, ma un po' di fretta, è avevo dimenticato di inserire il link.  Rimedio subito.





(Cro)
VEGETARIJANSKA LAZANJA
(*srednja težina ** za 2 osobe / 345 cal po porciji


Obožavam praviti i jesti lazanje. Premda mi moja obitelj ne pušta baš da ih radim po svojoj volji i mašti, jer svi najviše vole one klasične s mesnim raguom.
Ja s druge strane volim iskušavati nove kombinacije, mijenjati, dodavati, sve samo ne ono što svi drugi rade.
Tako sam htjela iskušati i ove lazanje od povrća u kojima ne samo da nema mesa (ali po želji dodajte ga - recimo malo piletine), nego sam i klasični bešamel umak zamijenila ukusnim umakom od sira koji se brzo sprema i ne treba ga kuhati, a jako se lijepo slaže s povrćem.
Ne zaboravite koliko je važno ono što jedete:
Brokula sadrži jako puno vitanima C, K i A, vlakna, i iznad svega sastojke koji su korisni u sprečavanju raka. Da bi se ti sastojci bolje očuvali tijekom kuhanja, nemojte kuhati brokulu dulje od 10 minuta, a puno je bolje kuhate li je na pari, u mikrovalnoj ili dinstate.
Karfiol ima malo masnoća, puno vitamina C, vode i vlakana. Kao i brokula ima antikancerogena svojstva. Kad ga kuhate podijelite ga u manje cvjetove približno iste veličine, tako će se brže i ravnomjernije skuhati.
Rimski karfiol ili Zeleni karfiol (zar ne izgleda prekrasno?)iz obitelji je karfiola, sadrži vlakna, vitamin C, karotenoide. Mekši je od karfiola i može se jesti i nekuhan u salati.


Sastojci:


4 lista tjestenine za lazanje
1 tikvica
1 mrkva
1 stapka celera
200 g brokule
100 g karfiola (bijelog i zelenog)
1/2 glavice luka 200 g sira stracchino
100 ml mlijeka
50 g ribanog sira parmezana
maslinovo ulje
sol


Narežite tikvicu, mrkvu i celer na kockice.
Popržite sitno narezani luk na 2 žlice ulja pa dodajte povrće.
Miješajući kuhajte 5 minuta.
Dodajte bijeli karfiol podijeljen (ili izrezan) na cvjetiće. Nakon još pet minuta dodajte i brokulu i zeleni karfiol. Posolite, dodajte 2 žlice tople vode, poklopite i kuhajte još 10-ak minuta, dok povrće malo ne odmekne. Ne treba se raskuhati.
Pomiješajte sir stracchino, mlijeko i 15 grama parmezana štapnim mikserom da dobijete gustu kremu.
U vatrostalnu posudu slažite naizmjenično slojeve tjestenine (ja sam koristila svježu tjesteninu, ako koristite suhu, prvo prokuhajte listove par minuta u ključaloj vodi), povrća, kremu od sira i posipajte s malo parmezana.
Završite s kremom od sira i pospite obilno ribanim parmezanom.
Pecite na 200°C oko 25 minuta.


Comments

  1. Nice info about the veggies and cheese. Which btw, I've never seen here, but I'll look specifically, it sounds wonderful!

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  2. Wow - love the addition of broccoli to lasagna! I wonder what other kind of cheese you could use....I have never seen that one here.

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  3. What a wonderful looking lasagna. This is something I know my daughter would really like!

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  4. Great looking lasagna! It's so colorful and healthy looking..wish I had a large serving for breakfast!

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  5. buonissima quesat lasagna vegetale e anche gustosissima!!!baci imma

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  6. Dajana mia cara bella ma questa lasagna è uno spettacolo!!!! complimentissimi! io adoro i cavoli.
    ma questa no me la mandi in dispensa :-P?
    baciiiiiiiii.

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  7. That looks awesome. I wonder if I can get that cheese over here...

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  8. YUM! I can't wait to try this recipe. I'm hoping I can find the cheese or something comparable. All those veggies look great!

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  9. I love all kinds of vegetables in this lasagna. Just delicious!
    Angie's Recipes

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  10. What a delicious way to eat your veggies!! Looks amazing!!

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  11. This looks amazing. I love it! The stracchino cheese looks very interesting. I am not sure I can locate it here but, will certainly keep my eyes open.
    Thanks for sharing your blog post on Chow and Chatter. Now, I have discovered your blog too. :-)

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  12. The broccoflower looks like a lace doily in the first photo. It's so pretty! Your recipe looks delicious. It's packed full of my favorite veggies!

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  13. Great recipes,verz nice and tasti.Sjajno si ih napravila!

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  14. *THANKS, EVERYONE for the lovely comments.
    Please don't get discoureged if you can't find stracchino cheese. Sub it with normal bechamel sauce, you won't be sorry

    *Grazie, Imma e Betty, gentilissime

    *Vera, hvala na komplimentima

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  15. ottime queste lasagne Dajana. Le preferisco mille volte a quelle rosse tradizionali! un bacione.

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