Guest Chef Lynda

August 28, 2011
Swiss Cheese Lasagna

 Guest Chef Lynda: This week I had my sorority sisters join me for a cooking afternoon. One of them demonstrated her lasagna recipe. This lasagna has swiss cheese. I had never tried lasagna with swiss cheese prior to this. Since I love swiss cheese, I had no doubt that it would be great. The gals have spent a number of meetings at my house so they were thrilled with the new kitchen. We spent some time checking out the new appliances.

Checking out the Appliances



The stove



Trash Compactor





 
   

Microwave Drawer

Counter Depth Refrigerator

So much fun playing with the new toys.



We decided to put them to good use making Lynda's Swiss Cheese Lasagna

What I learned:  Lasagna is a good way to use up those fresh tomatoes from the garden. Once again I am fascinated by the fact that making the sauce is not that difficult. We did cheat this time and use garlic and basil from the spice container instead of chopping them fresh, but we still cooked and simmered the sauce for flavor. Lynda showed how to sprinkle, pour and dump without the use of measuring cups or spoons. She goes more by eye-balling rather than measuring. Cuts down on dishing washing too. :) We did cook the noodles this time, which takes a bit of watching and putting a little oil in the water helps keep the noodles from sticking together. The swiss cheese was definitely a good choice. I think just about any cheese would taste good on lasagna.  I discovered the conversations never stop with 5 women in the kitchen. The cooking tips were flying and recipe ideas were streaming. Before we knew it the meal was ready to eat.

Lynda's Hint for Luscious Lasagna: (click on the video)

Swiss Cheese Lasagna:

1 Box lasagna noodles

2 T. minced onion

1 tsp garlic

1/2 lb ground beef

1 oz can tomato paste

1 large can diced tomatoes or Use 4-5 fresh tomatoes diced

Salt and Pepper to taste

A dash of basil

A dash of Oregano

16 oz container of cottage cheese (can also use ricotta)

8 oz of Swiss Cheese

1 Cup Parmesan Cheese

Bring 1-2 quarts of water to a boil

Cook ground beef, onion, garlic until red disappears.

Blend tomato paste, tomatoes, pepper basil and oregano.

Simmer and stir occasionally for 20 minutes.

 

At the same time cook the noodles for 20 minutes.

Grease or spray with non-stick spray a 9 by 13 baking dish. Alternate layers of noodles, meat sauce, cottage cheese, swiss cheese and Parmesan cheese (using about 1/3 for each layer). Repeat layer twice for 3 layers.

Bake 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. 



Serve with fresh fruit, a lettuce salad
and garlic bread



  Lynda is already planning her next Cooking With Marilee. I can't wait, this was so much fun.



 

The weather was so nice we enjoyed the meal on the porch. Lynda topped things off with some cake.

Yum and Fun!!!