Ironic Menu Planning

You never know who or what will inspire you, and where the inspiration will take you...

A few weeks ago, when Rosh Hashana menus were far from my mind, a conversation at the Fairway kosher meat section with a man who regularly provides inspiration to so many people with his voice and spirit, gave me the inspiration to start planning for the holidays

We were talking recipes, and I told him about the grilled brisket that was this summer's "gotta have it"... He shared with me a recipe for a "meat" lasagna, using Morningstar crumbles - amused by the idea of making a "meat lasagna" for lunch one of the days of Rosh Hashana, I decided to continue the theme, and will be serving "crab" cakes for lunch the second day (my sister's recipe - I'll post it soon).

Never one to follow cooking recipes (versus baking recipes) very strictly, I combined the recipe Chazzan Yitzy sent me, with my regular spinach lasagna recipe, and took a little peek at the Ronzoni box recipe - to add a little authenticity -

Lasagna is a terrific holiday lunch meal - it reheats beautifully, and you can put it on the hotplate or in a low oven before you go to shul, have a tossed salad ready in the refrigerator, have the table set and when you get home from shul - IT'S ALL READY!!!! Considering how late lunch is after shul on Rosh Hashanah, after having received spiritual inspiration from Chazzan Yitzy (versus gustatory), this will be ready immediately and DELICIOUS!!!

Deb's "Meat" Lasagna

1 pound lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions

12 ounce bag Morningstar farm crumbles

2 jars good quality marinara sauce ( sometimes I make my own, but with a 3 day chag coming it was too much)

2 pounds part skim ricotta

1 pound mozzarella cheese - shredded

10 ounces package frozen spinach, defrosted - squeezed dry

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup grated parmesan

Stir crumbles into sauce. Combine well ricotta, 1/2 of the mozzarella, spinach and pepper. Ladle a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2 pan. Lay down 3 or 4 noodles, overlapping slightly. Carefully spread half of cheese mixture in even layer over noodles. Sprinkle with 1/3 of remaining mozzarella cheese. Ladle over a generous amount of sauce. Place 3 or 4 more lasagna noodles, overlapping slightly. Carefully spread remaining cheese mixture. Sprinkle with another 1/3 of the mozzarella. Place 3 or 4 more lasagna noodles, overlapping slightly. Pour over remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Bake about 1 hour.