Italian Veggie Bake

Seriously, people. Seriously. This is probably one of the best things that I have ever made, and I didn't even expect it to taste this good! It tastes so simple, but so hearty!

So the story is that I wanted to make vegetable lasagna, but I didn't want to bread my veggies nor did I have a lot of different veggies on hand. I only had summer squash, eggplant, and zucchini. After contemplating for a while, a light bulb came over my head- I am going to be creative and make my own version of vegetable lasagna.

So, I roasted up my veggies, and layered them with some tomato sauce and a little bit of shredded mozzarella, and ooo lala, I got myself a weeklong of delicious lunch/dinner.

I am still in shock of how good it tastes, seriously. This stuff is sooo good, light but filling. Please just try it, please. I beg you. You will thank me later.

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, sliced
2 small zucchini (or 1 large), sliced
1 summer squash, sliced
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tbs dried basil
1.5 to 2 cups of marinara sauce
1 cup of shredded mozzarella

Directions:
Combine the veggies with olive oil, a little salt and pepper, and basil. Layer the veggies on a baking sheet and roast it in the oven (400 degrees) for 20 minutes.
After the veggies are done roasting, scoop a layer of marinara sauce on the bottom of a baking dish, put on a layer of the veggies, then a layer of marinara, and top with a thin layer of mozzarella. Continue these steps until all the veggies are used. Then top the dish with the last layer of marinara sauce and cheese. Bake in the 350 degrees oven with aluminum foil over the dish for 15 minutes. Take the aluminum foil off after the 15 minutes and let it bake for another 15 minutes.

There you have it, a beautiful vegetarian dish. Just try it. It's to die for.

Caprese

One of my favorites, simple ingredients, simple taste.

Just slice a tomato, some slices of fresh mozzarella cheese. Dress it with a little ground pepper and just drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. So delicious.

Ravioli in Mushroom Wine Sauce

I've got these ravioli babies in the freezer for a while now, so I decided to give them a try.

Good stuff, by the way.

In the fridge, I had baby bello (porcini) mushrooms, white wine, and some frozen shrimps and peas in the freezer. So I decided to be creative and made this-

The meal was delicious, filling without making you feel too bloated. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients-
1 tbs of butter
1 tbs of oil (I used grapeseed, you can use whatever you have)
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 cups of button or porcini mushroom, sliced
1/2 cup of dry white wine
1/2 cup of shrimp, peeled
1/3 cup of frozen peas
1/3 cup of grated Parmesan 

Directions-
Cook the ravioli as directed in the package.
Heat up the butter and oil in the sauce pan in medium high heat. Add crushed garlic as soon as the butter melts. Stir for about two minutes, before the garlic browns. Add in the mushrooms and stir for about 3 minutes until mushrooms are slightly softened. Pour in the white wine and let the sauce simmer for another 5 minutes and then add the shrimp and peas. Let everything cook together until the shrimps are cooked through, about 4-5 minutes. Add in the Parmesan cheese so the sauce thickens. Toss in the raviolis and wa-la, you have made yourself a delicious dinner!

Note: Please excuse those stupid peppercorns… When I ground peppers into the dish, the grinder fell apart and all the peppercorns came out. Didn't want to waste the dish so I tried scooping them out as much as I could. Hahah.