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Lasagna For A Friend
 Makes 2 lasagnas
We especially love giving (and getting) vegetarian lasagna - filled with spinach, or zucchini, or whatever vegetables are your friend's favorites. This is our basic version for you to build upon, making it just the way you want it. If she or her family likes a meatier version, add ground beef or crumbled sausage to the marinara sauce.
2 packages lasagna noodles
1 teaspoon kosher salt plus extra for boiling noodles
3 tablespoons olive oil
8 cups Tomato-Basil Marinara Sauce (on our web site) or other tomato sauce
4 large eggs
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
8 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the lasagna noodles, the oil (the oil keeps the noodles from sticking together), and some salt and cook until al dente. Drain and set aside.
Bring the sauce to a simmer. Set 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella aside and place the remaining 2 1/2 cups in a large bowl. Beat the eggs together and then add to the mozzarella along with the ricotta, parsley, eggs, salt, and pepper and mix to combine.
If you plan on cooking the lasagna right away, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce over the bottom of two 13- by 9-inch lasagna pans. Add a layer of overlapping noodles to the bottom of each pan. Top with one-quarter of the cheese mixture and one-quarter of the sauce. Repeat and finish each pan with a sprinkle of the reserved mozzarella. At this point, you can either bake the lasagna or freeze it uncooked. If you want to bake the lasagna right away, cook it until bubbling and browned on top, about 1 hour.
If freezing, first wrap the lasagna tightly with a layer of aluminum foil and then wrap it completely with two layers of plastic wrap before placing in the freezer. The lasagna doesn't need to be defrosted before cooking. Just remove the plastic wrap, and pop the lasagna in a preheated 375°F oven until it warmed through and bubbly, about 2 hours. |
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Hearty Minestrone
Makes 12 Cups
This is a soup we crave on cold winter nights, and one that we've found is a good food gift for friends. Accompanied by a loaf of hearty bread, it is dinner by itself, but it can also be a perfect lunch or afternoon warm-up. One thing that's so great about Minestrone is that you can vary the vegetables and the type of pasta used to suit your taste and availability of ingredients.
2 cups white beans, such as cannellini
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
½ cup chopped salt pork or ham
2 onions, chopped
2 leeks, washed well and chopped
2 teaspoons fresh chopped parsley
2 teaspoons fresh chopped basil
3 tablespoons tomato paste
6 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (or two 15 oz. cans)
6 stalks celery, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups kale or cabbage, shredded
4 small zucchini, diced
6 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
2 cups elbow macaroni (or other pasta)
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan for top
In a large pot, heat olive oil and sautee salt pork or ham, garlic, onion, leek, parsley and basil until slightly browned. Add tomato paste with several tablespoons of water, mix, and cook five minutes. Add celery, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, kale or cabbage, and zucchini, chicken stock, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil, simmering for 45 minutes to an hour.
Add beans and pasta, cook about 10 more minutes. Sprinkle with cheese before serving. |
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Dear Friends,
We believe there is nothing more thoughtful than the gift of food. Now that the holiday season has ended, keep that wonderful sense of giving to others throughout the year as you choose charities to support and personally help friends and neighbors in need. We hear from many non-profit groups that they get many donations at holiday time, but struggle in following months. In this issue, we give you some ideas to help others. Especially in these difficult economic times, food is the most vital thing you can give someone and cooking with friends a rewarding way to prepare it! Alison and Shannon
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Think of Your Friends and Neighbors
We've all been there. Whether you are on bed rest with a pregnancy, home with a new baby, have a sick husband, or a broken leg, sometimes it's hard to admit you need help. When you see a friend or neighbor in need, get together with another friend and make her a meal. The process of making home cooked food with a friend will allow you to focus on who you are cooking for and why, giving your gift of food additional meaning.
Here are some tips:
1) Don't ask if she needs help. Just do it.
2) Do ask about timing. If she has a relative helping for a few days but then will be on her own, you can step in when help is most needed.
3) If your friend has a long-term problem, set up a system where different friends cook for the friend on different days, so she doesn't have three dishes one night and none the next.
4) Ask her about family food allergies and aversions. Remember, you're cooking for the whole crew at her house.
5) Clearly label the dish with cooking directions, including freezing tips.
6) We like to use a Pyrex "Pay it Forward Dish" for food gifts. Tell her to keep the dish and re-use it another time when she helps someone out. If you've ever been the recipient of a steady stream of food, you know how difficult it is to figure out whose dish is whose, and return them. |
Shop Cooking With Friends for the "Pay it Forward Dish"-The Pyrex Grip-Rite Three-Quart Pan-Our Time-Saving Tool of the Month
This is the dish we love to have a few of on hand to make meals in for friends and let them keep it to give it to the next person in need. It's less than $14 on www.cookingwithfriendsclub.com. |
Our Top Ten Food Gifts for Friends in Need
1)Lasagna For A Friend (see recipe to left)
2)Eggplant Parmesan
3)Chicken Pot Pie
4)Beef Stew
5)Chicken Soup
6)Hearty Minestrone (see recipe to left)
7)Meaty Ziti Caprese
8)Ratatouille
9)White Chicken Chili
10)Roast Chicken and Vegetables |
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Cooking With Friends Share Packages
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Sometimes you might want to lend a little hand, if a friend just got home from a trip to an empty fridge, or had a bad day, or whatever the reason. We created "share packages" for spur of the moment times like these. When cooking with your friends, bake a few extra cookies, put together a platter of foods, or make an extra meal for the freezer. You'll be able to share something with a friend or neighbor at the spur of the moment. | |
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Organizations in Need--Ways to Help
It's a sad fact that over the past year, more families, including small children, are going hungry. There are several ways you can help. One is to make soup and/or breads for a food pantry or group that helps the hungry. And, doing it with a friend will be an enriching experience. It can be an incredibly rewarding experience to develop a relationship with such a group, organize teams of people to cook together for the cause, and hand-deliver the food.
If your local pantry does not accept homemade food, you could hold a food drive by collecting non-perishable goods. Or, you could hold an event such as a bake sale or chili cook-off as a benefit for the group and donate the money raised. We go to a cookie exchange every year that has such a theme. The women donate to a certain cause ($20 recommended), and then spend the evening trading cookies and talking with friends.
If you go to www.feedingamerica.org, you can type in your zip code to find food pantries nearest to you, and more information about the problem of hunger.
One of our other favorite sites for real information on the issue of hunger is www.shareourstrength.org. Founder Billy Shore and his group are helping every day in very creative ways. |
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Alison Bermack and Shannon Henry Kleiber
Visit our web site at www.cookingwithfriendsclub.com.
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