Time: 45-55 minutes

Serves: 8-10

Inspired by: My passion for throwing parties and not spending a lot of time cooking during them. I love the Armenian rice pilaf that I grew up with, but I feel like I have to tend to it while it’s cooking. I wanted to figure out how to make larger quantities, do most of the preparation ahead of time, and then put it in the oven to come out just at the right time for a large dinner party. After several experiments and refinements, this is recipe that I now use often.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups uncooked Basmati or long grain white rice (I prefer Basmati as it’s more flavorful and aromatic)
• ¾ cup vermicelli noodles broken into 1 inch pieces
• 3 cups chicken broth
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ tablespoons butter

Preparation:

• Melt butter in skillet over medium heat and lightly brown vermicelli noodles
• Combine with all other ingredients in a 5 x 9 x 2 ½ inch glass baking dish and mix well
• Seal pan snuggly with aluminum foil
• Bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or at 350 for 40-45 min
• When you remove it from oven, it may still look fairly “wet” and the rice may not be completely finished cooking
• If needed, let it sit out of the oven, covered, for about 10 minutes and serve
• Add some really hot chicken broth or water just before serving to make it juicier

Notes: I love this for parties. For advanced preparation, I typically brown the vermicelli noodles and put them in the baking dish (and any excess butter) with the rice and salt and mix it well. I measure out the chicken broth and have it ready to mix in. This way, it only takes a minute to prepare it and put it in the oven when I’m ready.

This is great with any meal, but nice to incorporate into a Mediterranean-themed meal such as hummus or baba ganoush as a starter, and served with lemon-herb chicken kabobs and Greek salad.

Wine Suggestions: This is a fabulous enhancement to a meal if you are serving a high acid white wine or a red wine with some tannins because of the salt and butter. For those who enjoy a rich, buttery, California chardonnay – that could be a very complimentary pairing as well.

Time: 30-45 minutes

Serves: 10-20 as a side dish

Inspired by: Tony Khalife, who taught me a great deal about putting unique flavors together. We tried this with all kinds of combinations of flavors and every time it turned out fantastic.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups of couscous works well for the below quantity of “fiesta” ingredients
• Water (1 1/2 cups water per cup of couscous)
• 1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, minced – keep the seeds (if you are sensitive to the oils, wear gloves)
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 red bell pepper chopped
• 1 cup dried papaya (chopped to the size of the dried cranberries)
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup slivered almonds (unsalted pistachios are great too)
• 1-2 cups green peas thawed to room temperature

Preparation:

• Fill a large pot with water – use 1 1/2 cup water to 1 cup couscous
• Add a dash of olive oil and salt and bring to a boil
• Add the couscous, stir and bring to a boil again, and then reduce heat to a very low simmer and cover for 20-30 minutes
• In a separate large sauté pan, sauté olive oil, jalapeno and onion
• When starting to brown, add bell pepper
• When they get cooked fairly well – 5-10 minutes, add nuts and dried fruit and cook for another 5 minutes
• Add the peas in the last few minutes so they get hot but not crushed and mushy
• Mix the couscous and the “fiesta” mixture in a large glass bowl (don’t do it all at once – start with half of each to ensure you get to your desired consistency/mixture)
• Add olive oil if it is too dry and needs moisture

Notes: This is good hot or at room temperature so it’s great for making early in the day for a party, or bringing to a potluck or as part of a picnic. It’s a perfect side dish to compliment a Mediterranean-themed meal, with perhaps hummus as a starter, curry chicken kabobs and Greek salad. I also make this recipe with quinoa instead of couscous on occasion because it’s healthier. Just replace the couscous with quinoa – use 1 1/4 cups of water for 1 cup of quinoa.

Time: Approximately 4-6 hours total to prepare and cook; 2 hours to make the arrabbiata sauce, pesto, and cut/marinate/grill vegetables, 30-45 minutes to assemble lasagna, and between 1-3 hours to cook (depending on whether it’s fresh or frozen).

Serves: Approximately 30 main course servings (2″ x 2.5″ x 5″).

Inspired by: My friend Rikke Johansen brought “individual” grilled vegetable lasagnas to a party at my home once that were amazingly delicious! I know she slaved all day over making fresh pasta for them, homemade sauces, and my favorite ingredient was the surprise layer of grilled sweet potatoes that were very subtle in the dish, but added a unique flavor and awesome texture! Reviewing her recipe and a few other similar ones, I concocted this one. It’s a dish full of beautiful flavors! It also makes great leftovers for about a week if kept wrapped well in the fridge. I also love that it can be made the day ahead of a party and sit one night night in the refrigerator covered before being cooked.  My friends with kids love that it can be made in smaller batches and then wrapped well and put in the freezer for whenever it is needed.

Supplies: Ceramic or glass baking dishes that are 2.5-3 inches in height. 3 makes cooking easier.  This quantity of ingredients yields about 300 square inches of lasagna. I use a 10 x 15 inch dish, a 9 x 13 inch dish and an 8 x 4 dish.  If you plan to freeze them for small meals, consider using several small baking dishes. Lastly, you will be grilling a lot of veggies – a large grill will save time!

Arrabbiata Sauce Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 small onions, finely chopped
• 8-10 garlic cloves, minced
• 5, 28 oz cans organic fire roasted crushed or diced tomatoes with juice
• 3-4 teaspoons dried basil
• 6 teaspoons of red pepper flakes (this gives it a great kick; reduce this to 2 teaspoons if you don’t like too much heat)
• Salt to taste (approximately 1 teaspoon)
• 8 large portabella mushrooms chopped into 1/4 inch pieces (for a meat version use 3-4 pounds of your favorite Italian sausage – for parties I often make both  – I get 4-5 portabellas and 2 pounds of Italian sausage – cook them separately, split up the finished arrabbiata sauce and add them in to make two different sauces.

Pesto (see ingredients and recipe)

Filling Ingredients

• 3 lbs sweet potatoes – peeled and cut lengthwise into ¼ inch slices
• 8-10 medium zucchini – cut lengthwise into ¼ inch slices
• 1 large or 2 medium eggplants, cut into ¼ inch slices
• Approx. ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• Approx. ¼ cup balsamic
• Approx. 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• Fresh pasta lasagna noodles – enough to give you three layers in your pan sizes (900 square inches if you are sticking with the quantity of this recipe). This can be tricky because the packages usually only tell you the weight. My favorite fresh pasta shop closed so I’ve been purchasing pasta carried by Whole Foods from the Pasta Shop in Oakland. Each 12 oz container has 3 sheets that are approximately 12 x 12 each so I get three containers and end up with some extra. The leftovers can be cut into ribbons for pasta and frozen to keep longer as well.
• 3 lbs coarsely grated fresh mozzarella cheese
• 2 lbs ricotta cheese
• 2 lbs coursely grated fresh asiago cheese (I often use a pound each of fresh and aged)
• 1 cup of grated parmesan or manchego

Preparation:

• Start with the arrabbiata sauce. While it is simmering, make the pesto, sauté the portabellas, and prepare and grill the vegetables.
• Arrabiata Sauce: Heat the olive oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft and translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the tomatoes and the remaining ingredients and simmer uncovered until the sauce is thickened and slightly reduced, about 1.5 hours. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Cover and set aside.
• Portabellas: For a “meatier” lasagna, chop up your portabellas in 1/4 inch pieces, sauté them with olive oil and a bit of salt (smoky salts is nice), until they release most of their water. Add them to the Arrabbiata sauce when it is finished. If you are using Italian Sausage, just break up the sausage into small pieces while you are sautéing it and brown it a bit.
• Pesto: Make pesto according to recipe and set aside until ready to assemble lasagna.
• Cut and Marinate the Vegetables: Prepare a small bowl with a mixture of equal parts olive oil and balsamic. Cut the vegetables according to the ingredient list above. Long thin slices is easier to grill than a lot of small pieces. Use your hands to lightly and quickly coat veggies with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and pile them onto cookie sheets or something easy to carry them to your grill.
• Grill Vegetables: Grill in batches, until they are tender and browned. Besides adding that beautiful flavor that comes from grilling, your main goal of grilling is getting them to release a lot of their moisture so when the lasagna cooks it will have a perfect moistness and will not end up sitting in a lot of water. At times I’ve thought I’ve overcooked some of the vegetables and they still turn out well in the finished product.
• Assemble Lasagna:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In one bowl, combine your grated asiago and parmesan cheeses. In another bowl, blend your ricotta cheese with 1/2 cup of the pesto (or enough so that it gives it a nice flavor without being overly salty).
• Layer 1: Spoon 1/2 of the arrabbiata sauce onto the bottom of each baking dish.
• Layer 2: Single layer of lasagna noodles so they do not overlap.
• Layer 3: Single layer of grilled sweet potatoes so they do not overlap.
• Layer 4: As equally as possible, spread the ricotta mixture combined with pesto. Sprinkle a handful of mozzarella over the top.
• Layer 5: Layer of lasagna noodles.
• Layer 6: Layer of zucchini.
• Layer 7: Layer 1/2 of the mozzarella
• Layer 8: Layer of eggplant.
• Layer 9: Layer 1/2 of the asiago/parmesan mixture.
• Layer 10: Final layer of lasagna noodles.
• Layer 11: Spread the rest of the arrabbiata sauce.
• Layer 12: Sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella and asiago/parmesan cheeses – pack it all down at this point if necessary to keep it all from overflowing the pan.
• Top it all off by drizzling pesto over the top. This is a fairly salty mixture so you can also reserve a bit to top off again when you are eating if it needs more, or to spread on some warm bread to accompany the lasagna.

Cook Lasagna from Fresh: Preheat oven to 350. Cover the lasagna with aluminum foil, place your dish on a cookie sheet in case there is some spill over, and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until it is bubbling and golden brown (20-30 minutes longer). Let the lasagna rest for 10 minutes before serving, and if you’d like, drizzle again with some of the remaining pesto oil. Or put a “smear” of pesto on the plate under each piece you serve.

Pre-Baked Grilled Vegetable Lasagna

Cook Lasagna from Frozen: Preheat oven to 400. Cover the lasagna with aluminum foil, place your dish on a cookie sheet in case there is some spill over, and bake for approximately 120 minutes. (Add 20-30 min if not completely hot all the way through). Remove the foil and drop temperature to 350 and continue baking until it is bubbling and golden brown (20-30 minutes longer). Let the lasagna rest for 10 minutes before serving and if you have it, drizzle with pesto oil.

Notes: Using fresh ingredients (pasta, cheeses, sauces, and fresh organic vegetables) is what makes this dish so good.

Wine Suggestions: Italian! Any Sangiovese-based wine from Tuscany such as a Brunello di Montalcino or Rosso di Montalcino. If you like something less expensive and a bit more rustic try a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. While Barolo is typically paired with heavier and spicy meats, the spiciness and grilled flavors in this lasagna would probably also be yummy with older Barolo with some age that has had some time to soften. Anything too tanic might class with the spice.

Grilled Vegetable Lasagna

Time: 45 minutes active, 6 hours total. Approximately 20 minutes to make the marinade and cube chicken, 5-6 hours to marinate, and 25 minutes to skewer and cook.

Serves: 6-10

Inspired by: I’ve always loved a lot of Indian chicken dishes that use yogurt marinades to tenderize the chicken and various curies for fabulous flavors. I just started experimenting with various ingredients and have found that I like just about any similar combination. I took notes once so I could share this with friends.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ pounds skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces
• ½ cup yogurt
• ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon curry powder (mine is very spicy – select type according to how spicy you want it)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 lemon (add 20 minutes before cooking)

Preparation:

• Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes.
• Mix all rest of the ingredients well (except lemon) in large bowl.
• Add the chicken to the mixture and marinate in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours.
• Put on skewers, and drizzle with fresh lemon juice about 20 minutes before cooking.
• Cook on grill at about 400 approximately 5-6 minutes each side – you should see grill marks – check to ensure it is cooked through – with metal skewers and fairly high heat – it will cook fast.

Notes: This is even good warm or cold for a picnic with greek salad, and pita bread for sandwiches and yogurt dill sauce. It’s easy for dinner parties and super easy for larger parties as you can serve it as finger food with toothpics and the yogurt dill sauce for dipping.

Wine Suggestions: Spicy, medium bodied reds and off-dry whites.

Time: 30 minutes active; 1.5 hours total. Approximately 30 minutes to prepare and layer the ingredients and 50-60 minutes for cook and cool time.

Serves: 8-12 as a side dish

Inspired by: My friend Samantha Lincoln who is creative and always makes beautiful food. She served this one night for a dinner at her house and told me she just made it up. She used lavender salt, which sounds awesome! I use sea salt since that’s what I keep around, but would love to try that sometime to see how it enhances the flavor. The flavors in this dish are very Mediterranean and go so well with many of the dishes I love to make such as curry chicken kabobs, Armenian rice pilaf and Greek salad – in fact – that’s a perfect combo for a dinner party. Sometime I’d like to make this with thick layer of garbanzo beans to have as a lunch/meal, rather than just as a side dish.

Supplies:

• 9 x 13 x 2 inch glass baking dish
• Turkey baster (not required, but it’s helpful to have something to easily remove the water that accumulates in the dish from the veggies while cooking)

Ingredients:

• 2 small Japanese eggplants or 1 large eggplant
• 1 – 3 zucchini depending on size
• 4 – 8 tomatoes
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil (or you can substitute with fresh Italian parsley)
• ½ – 1 cup parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Approximately 3 teaspoons sea salt
• Approximately 1-2 teaspoons black pepper
• Approximately 1-2 teaspoons white pepper

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Slice eggplant and zucchini into 1/8-inch rounds and slice tomatoes as thin as possible so they hold together (so soft middle doesn’t fall out).
• Lightly coat the inside of your baking dish with olive oil or non-stick olive oil spray.
• Lightly brush the eggplant and zucchini with olive oil.
• Layer the eggplant in the bottom of baking dish, then zucchini, and then tomato (do this twice so you have six layers – save the prettiest tomato slices for the top layer). Between each layer, lightly sprinkle salt, white and black pepper, chopped basil and parmesan cheese.
• Cover with foil and cook for about 30 minutes, then remove some of the water that has accumulated in the bottom of the dish (a turkey baster works well for removing water).
• Uncover and cook for another 15 minutes – watch so that the cheese and basil on top don’t burn.
• Remove any standing water in the bottom of the dish, and let it rest and cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Wine Suggestions: You’ll probably select a wine to go best with your main course, but if you were just pairing with this dish, a lighter style Sangiovese or Grenache blend would be nice, possibly a Red Burgundy, or a crisp, aromatic white such as Sancerre or Gruner Veltliner.

Time: 20-30 minutes

Serves: 8-10 as a side dish

Inspired by: My good friend Sue who is amazing with both food preparations and wine and champagne selections! This was one of the several dishes she brought to a gourmet thanksgiving dinner party this year. Even those who don’t normally like cranberry sauce really enjoyed this refreshing side dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag cranberries
• 12-15 kumquats
• Approximately 1/4 cup sugar (taste for desired sweetness)
• Approximately 1/2 cup fresh, strong crystallized ginger (quantity can very according to your taste)

Preparation:

• Chop cranberries with sugar in a food processor and then dump into a large bowl.
• Pull the stems off of the Kumquats and cut into halves.
• In the same food processor (no need to clean), chop the kumquats with the ginger.
• Dump the kumquat-ginger mixture into the bowl with the berries and mix well.
• Refrigerate and serve the next day.

Notes: This is more of a light fruity salad than a relish/condiment, so I categorized it in both places.