Meatless Lasagna

Dev and I are still going strong with our 'meatless' experiment! A couple weeks ago we tried Morningstar Farms Grillers Crumbles for Sloppy Joes and it was incredibly mushy and disappointing. This time we used Boca Ground Crumbles and I have to tell you, the texture held up very well. Another surprise find was Lightlife Gimme Lean! Sausage Style. Holy! This stuff tastes just like breakfast sausage. Dev loved it.

Preheat oven 425FMeatless Lasagna
1/2 package Lightlife Gimme Lean Sausage
2/3 package Boca Ground Crumbles
1 carrot
1 celery
1/2 onion
1 14oz can Mur Glen diced tomatoes (w/garlic & basil)
2 T tomato paste
1 C milk
1 C white wineFilling2 C cottage cheese
1 egg
1/4 C chopped parsley
1/2 C parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
6 slices mozzarella cheese
Italian Cheese blend
Fresh Mozarella
Boca Crumbles and Gimme Lean.
Finely mince carrot, celery and onion.
Saute minced vegetables in olive oil until softned - about 5 min. Add tomato paste and saute until fragrant and nearly caramelized.
Add milk and simmer until evaporated. Add wine and simmer until evaporated.
In a separate pan, saute Ground Crumbles and Veg sasauge in olive oil until browned. Add to tomato mixture and stir in diced tomatoes.
I chose cottage cheese over ricotta because of a 'test kitchen' review I came across in Cooks Illustrated. Sometimes ricotta can have that gritty texture and it seems cottage cheese manages to retain a smooth texture. YEP. Puree cottage cheese and egg until almost smooth. In a small bowl combine cottage cheese mixture, parsley, parmesan cheese and salt. Layer sauce, noodles and top with cottage cheese mixture. Top with 6 slices moz cheese and shredded cheese.
Repeat layers.
Top with fresh mozzarella, shredded cheeseblend, cover with foil and bake for 30 min. Increase temp to 450F, remove foil and bake an additional 15 min. or until cheese is browned. Cool for 15 min.
I made some garlic toast using roasted garlic cloves, butter and fresh parsley. YUM!

I can't believe it's not BACON

Mushrooms that taste like bacon? Seriously? The first time I heard about this insane concept was from our friend Joe. I didn't believe it until we tried it. It really does - similar to the fatty, crispy, burned portions of bacon. I am amazed. And those of you who know Dev, he LOVES his bacon and doesn't like mushrooms at all. He ate these and said he was 'pleasantly surprised'!

Preheat oven to 350F

Shiitake BACON
1/2 lb Shiitake mushrooms
1/4 C olive oil
1 tsp sea salt




I didn't follow the recipe exactly because I didn't have 1/2 lb of mushrooms. Also, I found a second recipe online that soaked the mushrooms in 1C soy sauce. I decided to mix half of the mushrooms I had with olive oil/salt and the other with olive oil and a couple spoonfuls of soy sauce.

Place mushrooms on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 30min.- 1 hour, depending upon how big you mushrooms are. Check up on them every 10min. (flipping/turning) and take them out once they become dark and caramelized. They will shrink half in size.


Let them cool completely. ENJOY!

*NOTE: I think the soy adds to the 'bacon' flavor illusion. But don't add BOTH salt and soy. I did this (a second time) and it is WAY too salty.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Dev and I had this a few nights ago - I'm a little behind in my posts...

Whenever we have spaghetti, our go-to sauce is the store bought, bottled kind. But I keep coming across Spaghetti Bolognese recipes online that look amazing! The bolognese I've made for lasagna was delicious so I figured, why not give this a go! Usually, bolognese is made with beef and sometimes pork, and veal but I made this with ground turkey breast and a bit of Hot Italian sausage. It came out wonderful! I would definitely make this again (that is, when I have the time) ;-)

Spaghetti Bolognese
1 lb ground turkey breast
1/2 lb hot italian sausage
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t salt 

black pepper

3 slices thick-cut applewood smoked bacon
1 small walla walal onion

1 carrot
2 stalks celery

1 C whole milk 

1 C dry white wine

3 C chicken broth (low salt)
1/3 cup + 1 T tomato paste

1 bay leaf
1 T sugar

1 lb spaghetti



Mix together the ground turkey, sausage, garlic and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least and hour.


Roughly chop onion, carrots and celery. I like to grind them in my mini-chopper until finely minced.



Roughly chop bacon. Over medium heat, saute the bacon and vegetable until they start to caramelize - about 20 min. Raise the heat and add meat mixture to pan. Cook until browned.
Add the milk and continue to cook until all the liquid has evaporated. Using a fork or potato masher, break up meat until fine.



Add tomato paste, wine, bay leaf and stock and bring to a boil. I like having these tiny wine bottles on hand in the pantry for cooking - then I won't waste a big bottle (I love red wine, but white wine isn't my thing)
Reduce heat to a low simmer and partially cover pot with lid. Simmer for until thickened - about 2 hours. If the sauce is still too liquid, raise the heat slightly, remove lid and keep simmering. Add sugar and season if necessary with salt and pepper.


Cook pasta to al dente in salted water and toss with the sauce.



Serve with freshly grated parmesan and garlic toast!