It's recipe time!

Good day foodie peoples!

It's Thursday and I am feeling recipe-ish today. A couple of you asked if I would share more concrete recipes from my little Italian feast a couple posts ago and I figured today would be the perfect day to do just that!

These recipes are from a recent class I taught at the Environmental Nature Center. We did a "Ladies Night" where I made all the toppings and the ladies used Ezekial Spouted Grain Tortillas as pizza crusts. I will say, toasting them up in the dehydrator or oven for 5-10 minutes makes a more authentic 'pizza' crust, but we made due without!

Maiorelli’s Authentic Italian Marinara:


3-4 large Heirloom tomatoes
1-2 cloves of garlic
¼ cup Extra-Virgin, Organic, Cold-pressed Olive Oil
2-3 Tablespoons New Frontiers Pizza Seasoning
1 Tablespoon dried Oregano
1 cup (soaked, unless oil packed) Sun dried Tomatoes
Sea Salt to taste
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
½ cup fresh basil, chopped

In a food processor combine all the aforementioned ingredients with the exception of the fresh tomatoes, parsley, and basil. Blend until a thick paste forms. Add in your fresh heirloom tomatoes and puree. Taste to make sure it’s well seasoned.

Transfer your gravy (marinara) to a separate bowl. Add in fresh chopped herbs and mix.

Almond ‘Ricotta’ Rustica:

2 cups Organic, Un-Pasteurized, Raw Almonds (Soaked in filtered water over night)
2 cloves of garlic
¼ cup Extra-Virgin, Organic, Cold-Pressed Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Italian Seasoning or New Frontiers Pizza Seasoning
1 T Garlic Powder
3 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
Juice of 1 lemon
Sea Salt to taste
Filtered water as needed

Garnish:
Fresh Parsley, chopped
Fresh Basil, chopped
New Frontiers Pizza Seasoning

In your food processor combine almonds, garlic, and olive oil. Pulse until almonds break down and become grain-like. Add in your remaining ingredients and process until fully combined. Taste for seasoning.


Ricotta should be light and fluffy. Mix in your fresh chopped herbs and drizzle with Olive Oil.

*Option: Blend in Culturelle Vegan Probiotic while processing. Place in a wide-mouth jar (mason jar) and cover with a napkin secured with a rubber band. Store in a dark place overnight. This will essential ferment/culture your Ricotta, giving it a more authentic flavor.

To make the lasagna you will need:
 
3-4 zucchini sliced using mandoline or veggie peeler
1-2 T EVOO
1 clove minced garlic
sea salt
 
In your baking dish lay sliced zucchini. Top with EVOO, minced garlic, and sea salt. Toss. Let sit for 1 hour so that the zucchini softens. 
 
After one hour remove your zucchini from the pan. Sauce your pan with gravy and then place one layer of zucchini - making sure to cover the whole pan. You don't want the bottom of the pan to be visable at all.  Do another layer of gravy, again covering the zucchini. Then do a layer of ricotta. I like to do dollups of ricotta- gently pressing them down to spread them out. I try not to mix the sauce and ricotta together, but if that happens, don't sweat it. It's still going to taste just as good. Continue layering, placing another layer of zucchini to cover the gravy/ricotta. And keep on going until you run out of zucchini. Do a final layer of sauce and top with dollups of ricotta and sliced heirloom tomatoes. Garnish with chopped basil, parsley, and drizzle of EVOO. I like to let mine sit overnight in the dehydrator set at 105-110 degrees. This is what really gives it that true lasagna mouth-feel and taste. Yum, yum, yum!  

 

Sometimes I like to make different variations of this adding in marinated spinach and arugula or 'sauteed' veggies on top of the ricotta or sauce. You can even use pesto instead of marinara or ricotta. Be creative!

 

Here is my easy-peasy Pesto recipe just in case you want to switch things up a bit!

 

 

 

Pesto alla Maiorelli:

2 cups walnuts (option to do a mix of walnuts and pine nuts)

2 cups basil

1 cup parsley

1 cup spinach

3 cloves of garlic

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

Juice of 1 lemon

1 Tablespoon sea salt

1 cup Extra Virgin, Organic, Cold-pressed Olive Oil

Combine above ingredients in the food processor adding Olive Oil slowly while the ingredients blend.

*For a thinner Pesto slowly add water.

Hope you enjoy!