Reduced Fat Vegetarian Whole Wheat Lasagne

Hi All,

First, I want to let you know that I have lost 10 pounds since I started my diet.  It is coming off slowly, but at least it is coming off.  This week I decided to try my hand at making a podcast.  I demonstrate how to put a reduced fat lasagne together.  Don’t worry if you miss anything, because I am including everything you need in the actual blog. Just click on the youtube link below and watch.   Also, be kind.  It’s my first podcast, and they will get better each time—I hope. 

Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjBRzMHA8Jg 

            Reduced Fat Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:

4 cloves of garlic

2 Tablespoons olive oil

Olive oil Pam

3 cans (28 oz size) whole tomatoes, crushed by hand

1 can tomato paste

½ cup chopped fresh basil

Salt

2 teaspoons of baking soda

Spray pot with Pam.  Sauté whole garlic cloves slowly in olive oil over medium heat until golden brown.  Remove from heat and let cool.  In a bowl crush the whole tomatoes with your hands.  Put pot back on medium heat and add tomatoes slowly to the oil.  Cook for 10 minutes or until bubbling.  Add basil, salt, and baking soda.  The baking soda is used to blunt the acidity of the tomatoes.  Add paste and 3 cups of water.  Simmer for about an hour. 

Reduced Fat Vegetarian Whole Wheat Lasagne

Ingredients

8 cups of Marinara Sauce

1 large bag of frozen chopped spinach (thawed with all water squeezed out)

1 pound of whole wheat lasagne

1 pound of skim ricotta

1 medium skim mozzarella, grated

1 egg

1 cup grated Reduced Fat Parmigiano Cheese

1 tablespoon of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

Olive Oil Pam

salt and pepper to taste

Sauté garlic in olive oil in an Olive Oil Pam sprayed pan until slightly browned.  Add spinach and continue to sauté until spinach is cooked, about ten minutes.  Remove the two cloves of garlic and discard.    

Have Marinara Sauce already prepared and warm.  Mix ricotta with ½ cup of sauce, salt, pepper, ½ cup of the grated Parmigiano, and egg.  Cook lasagne in salted boiling water for 15 minutes or until tender.  (Spray Olive Oil Pam in water to prevent sticking.)  Drain and spread lasagne on a serving platter, spraying with Pam.  Pour ½ cup of sauce on the bottom of a lasagne pan or dish sprayed with Olive Oil Pam.  Put in a layer of lasagne, spread ricotta mixture over lasagne, add a thin layer of the sautéed spinach and a layer of mozzarella.  Sprinkle with grated Parmigiano.  Repeat layers until all ingredients are used, ending with a layer of lasagne covered with sauce.  Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees) for 10 minutes or until lasagne is thoroughly heated.  Serves 6.