spianch, ham and butternut lasagna

this was heavenly and a perfect comfort food. somehow we are always in abundance of goat cheese and i am always and forever adding to everything we eat these days. the ham was leftover from sunday...a great little quarter ham i picked up at trader joes before thanksgiving and froze. the ham really went well with the sweetness of the squash and the tang of the goat cheese. i also always use the no boil noodles...the last thing i have time for these days is pre boiling noodles and dirtying another pan...just another step to step!

(stay tuned for homemade cranberry vodka! best homemade x-mas present for the lush in your life!)

enjoy!




3 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup unbleached ap flour
pinch of nutmeg
3 tbl unsalted butter
1 small yellow onion, minced
salt and pepper
6-8 cups peeled and small diced butternut squash
1 tbl balsamic vinegar
1 tbl chopped fresh rosemary
4 garlci cloves, minced
2 cups diced ham
pinch of red pepper
1 bag organic frozen chopped spinach
1 pkg organic whole wheat lasagna noodles
1 cup or 1 log of goat cheese
1 cup parm/regg cheese, grated

toss butternut squash with salt and pepper, balsamic vinegar and rosemary. roast at 425 for 30 min. remove and set aside. turn oven to 350F.

heat milk until almost boiling. remove and keep warm.

saute onion in butter until soft over med heat. whisk in flour and cook 5 min until a little cooked and lightly golden. add a few tbls of milk to flour mixture and whisk constantly. slowly add milk until gone and add in nutmeg, red pepper and salt and pepper. whisk until thickened and combined. set aside.

saute garlic and ham in olive oil. add spinach and salt and pepper. cook until spinach is warmed and soft.

ladle a little of milk mixture in bottom of baking dish. layer noodles, them butternut squash, spiinach/ham mixture. crumble some goat cheese and parm on top and finally ladle more milk mixture on top. repeat with noodles, squash, etc. when done sprinkle with a final layer of parm and bake 30-40 until done.

caramelized onion and olive pizza

this was, as littlefoodie put it "big people" pizza. normally he eats whatever we put in front of his chubby little mug but he snubbed us this time...however, that just meant more for daddy and myself.

i lifted the recipe from cookinglight.com but switched it up as always to make it even better! the dough was painfully easy to make and just too minutes. while it was rising i prepared the veggies and cooked them up. as soon as the bread was done rising the toppings were all done. easy as pizza pie. actually, the dough was very similar to the herb pizza crust from trader joes but its homemade which always makes it tastier but in a pinch the tj's will work. i plan on making a couple batches to freeze and whip out quickly.

there is pretty much an infinite amount of toppings for this but squash, herbs, kalamata olives, onions and goat cheese were what i had on hand. next week i want to throw some eggplant and make a spicier pizza.

enjoy!

the pizza dough:

1 pkg organic yeast
3/4 warm water, divided
2 1/4 cups organic white whole wheat flour, divided
2 tbl milk
2 tbl olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
generous cracklings of black pepper!
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
cornmeal

sprinkle yeast over 1/4 cup of warm water in a large bowl and let stand for 5 min to bloom. add 1/2 cup of warm water and stir. stir in 2 cups flour, milk, olive oil, salt, cracked pepper, and herbs. stir until combined.

flour board and turn out dough. knead until smooth about 8-10 min and dough is elastic. add enough dough, 1 tbl at a time to prevent sticking.

grease a large, clean glass bowl with olive oil and turn to coat the dough all over in it. cover with wax paper and let rise in a warm place with no drafts for 40 minutes. after that punch down and let sit 5 minutes.

sprinkle cornmeal to covera greased cookie sheet. shape dough out into a large rectangle and crimp edges

preheat oven to 400F.

toppings:
4 slices nitrate free bacon (neiman ranch), diced
4 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp chopped rosemary
4 garlic clvs, sliced
1 cup halved heirloom or small tomatoes
2 yellow squash, halved and sliced
3/4 cup chopped, pitted kalamata olives
1 pkg goat cheese
cracked pepper

heat pan and saute bacon until crisp. remove. add onion to pan along with rosemary and garlic and squash. cook on med high heat stirring occasionally until onion is golden and caramelized. add in tomatoes and olives. season with salt and pepper.

top the pizza crust with onion mixture. sprinkle with bacon and then goat cheese. sprinkle with fresh cracked pepper.

bake 35 min until crust is crispy and toppings are brown and gooey!