Vegetarian Lasagna with Indian tarka

Lasagna is a complete meal with all the food groups covered in one dish. There are a variety of ways to cook lasagna. It can be vegetarian with all vegetables and cheese.  Then, any type of meat such as beef, turkey, or chicken can be used in the dish. Lasagna can be made with Italian spices like basil, oregano etc to make the dish taste Italian.  No matter what type of lasagna you enjoy, you can always make your own variation in the sauce which is an important ingredient in the making of lasagna.

Originally, in Italy, the word "lasagna" did not refer to a food (in fact, today, the food is still spelled "lasagne" as the plural form). The word "lasagna" referred to the pot in which the food was cooked. It is thought that the word "lasagna" for the pot is derived from the Greek word for "chamber pot.

The earliest lasagna recipes known are dated from the thirteenth century. At that time, tomatoes were not known to Europeans.  Tomatoes did not arrive in Europe until after Columbus reached America in 1492.  This means that they couldn't have used them in the recipes.

 However, depending on the recipe, different cheeses like ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan are used today.

Boiling noodles used to be a requirement for making lasagna. No-boil noodles now exist. These are great as they soften in the oven, but it is absolutely necessary to make sure that there is a great quantity of sauce so the noodles get wet and cook while they are in the oven.  If any part of the noodle is not covered with the sauce, that part will turn hard. 

I had my niece over so we prepared the vegetable lasagna from the scratch.   We tried to give this famous Italian dish an Indian tarka by adding some Indian spices.  Of course homemade paneer(farmer’s cheese) or chena used in this lasagna is very Indian touch or tarka.   Everyone liked and had second helpings.  The easy part is one can prepare the paneer stuffing and marinara sauce a day in advance so that on the day of the lunch or dinner you have to just put things together and bake the lasagna.

Ingredients for making paneer:

Whole milk 2 liters, lemon juice ¼ cup, cheese cloth

Method:

Boil milk in a heavy bottom pan over medium flame.  As the milk comes to a boil, add the lemon juice gradually and stir.  The milk will curdle.  Turn off the flame and let it cool off a little.  Take a cheese cloth or any muslin cloth.  Place it on a strainer and strain the curdled milk. Now collect the opposite links of the cheese cloth, tie them and hang on the water tap in the kitchen sink.  Before hanging them let this bundle run under fresh water for a few seconds so that lemon flavor does not stay in the cheese.  Let all the water drain.  It will take about two hours or so for all the water to drain and even then squeeze the cheeses cloth between your two palms so that all the excess water drains out.  Take out of the cheese cloth in a plate and mash it with your fingers.

Ingredients for making cheese stuffing:

Onions 1 large and one medium, green chilly(or green pepper) 1 or 2, cooking oil 1 tbsp, cumin seeds ½ tsp,  coriander powder 1 tsp, salt to taste,  mashed paneer(cheese)

Method:

Peel and chop onions and green chilly (green pepper) in small pieces.

Heat oil in a pan; add cumin seeds, chopped onions and green chilly or pepper. Saute it for a couple of minutes or till onion turn light pink.  Add salt and coriander powder to it and mix well.  Now add mashed paneer, stir it and turn off the flame.

 

Ingredients for tomato sauce:

Most people use spaghetti sauce for the lasagna but I use marinara sauce. 

Olive oil 1 ½ tbsp,  big onion 1 chopped,  garlic cloves 2 chopped,  dry basil leaves ½ tsp, oregano ¼ tsp, sugar 1 tsp, salt to taste, fresh tomatoes 6 medium size chopped, tomato ketchup ¼ cup, ¼ tsp cumin seeds, ¼ tsp coriander powder

Method:

In pan heat oil, add cumin seeds.  When they stop spluttering, add oregano, chopped garlic and onion and sauté it for 4 minutes on medium flame.  When onion turn light brown, turn off the flame.  Let it cool off.

Put this mixture in the food processor along with chopped tomatoes and puree it.

Put this mix in the same pan and cook till a boil.  Add salt, sugar, ketchup, coriander powder and basil leaves.  Let the sauce simmer for 10 -12 minutes.  You may add more sugar depending on your taste.  Turn off the heat.

 Ingredients for Lasagna:

 No boil Lasagna noodles 6 pieces, white cheddar cheese grated 1 cup, 9”X 5” loaf pan

 

Method for putting Lasagna together:

In the baking dish spread some sauce and arrange one lasagna noodle on it. Spread more sauce on the noodle, then a layer of cooked paneer (cheese) on it and sprinkle some cheddar cheese.  Now take another lasagna noodle and repeat the same process of sauce, paneer (cheese) and cheddar cheese in that order.  Keep repeating till you reach the top of the baking pan.  Pour some more sauce on the top layer and sprinkle cheddar cheese generously.

Pre heat oven to 375 degree F (210 degree C).  Bake for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Some people prefer mozzarella and Parmesan cheese in lasagna but I prefer cheddar.  So it is purely your choice.  There is nothing wrong or right about it.  You may garnish it with black olives before serving.