Because Cat asked me not to forget vegetarians, here’s what I cook when I really want to impress herbivores. I have a meat variation of this, too, but both get big smiles. The big secret is that I use feta cheese rather than ricotta.

1 onion
olive oil
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 portobello mushroom chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
6-8 large crimini mushrooms sliced
6-8 large white mushrooms sliced
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano
salt
pepper
1/4 chopped basil
1 small can tomato paste
1 heirloom tomato chopped up
3 8-oz cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup red wine
4 or 5 small zucchinis (or equiv) –sliced into long 1/8″ ovals (slice round at an angle)
1 lb lasagna noodles – boiled and drained
1 lb fresh spinach
12 oz crumbled feta cheese
1 lb shredded mozzarella cheese
dash dry oregano

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Toss in the onions and then the garlic and sautée over medium for a couple minutes and then add in mushrooms, oregano, salt & pepper. Sautée over medium until the mushrooms begin to soften –but don’t cook them too much. Stir in basil, heirloom tomato, tomato paste, tomato sauce and red wine. Slowly bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer over med-low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a 9×13 baking pan, lay 3 lasagna noodles across the bottom. Scoop on a nice thick layer of suace. Add a layer of spinach leaves & then a layer of lasagna slices. Then sprinkle on a layer of feta. Repeat this until you fill the pan. Cover with a last layer of noodles and then sauce. Then generously pile on the mozzarella. Finally, sprinkle on a little dry oregano.

Bake for 20-30 min or until the cheese is melted and crispy all the way through. Cool just a little bit and dig in!

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I recently dined at Zuppa, 2007 winner of the San Francisco Boss of the Sauce competition where I was introduced to the best thing since bacon: speck. I was so excited after dinner that I got on the phone and called all my bacon fanatic friends to tell them I’d met bacon’s match.

Also called Speck dell’Alto Adige, it is a delightful thinly sliced Italian meat that has characteristics of both bacon and prosciutto. The wikipedia entry on speck says that this meat has been around since the fourteenth century. It’s both salt-cured and wood smoked and comes from the hind-leg of the pig.

We tried it by itself as an appetizer and for an entrée I had roasted quail wrapped in speck. My toes curled! I’d never even heard of this fabulous treat, but it was definitely love at first bite.

Since then, I’ve been on the look-out for a pound of speck. I hear that they sell it at Lucca. I’ll keep you updated once I get my hands on some. I’ll certainly blog my kitchen experiments with it!

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