Paneer Veg Lasagna

This yummy lasagna was our dinner a couple of days ago. My book club ladies are all quite the bakers! So in the midst of reading books, we are constantly on a bake off and swapping recipes. During one of our WhatsApp chatting sessions, my beautiful friend Maria passed me this great tried and tested Veggie Lasagna recipe. This recipe was originally from allrecipes.com, but I totally Indianised it! 

There was way too much cheese in the recipe, so I used up some paneer and veggies and whipped up this cheesy Paneer Veg Lasagna.

So go get your lasagna noodles and start layering! Add whatever veggies you like and don’t forget to sauce it up!

Paneer Veg Lasagna

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Lasagna Noodles – 9 sheets (I used San Remo Instant Lasagna)

Spinach Leaves – 1 bunch (finely chopped)

Capsicum – 1 big size (finely chopped)

Carrots – 1/2 cup (grated)

Paneer – 200 gms (crumbled)

Mozzarella Cheese – 1+ 1/4 cup (grated)

Egg – 1 (optional)

Chilli flakes – 2 teaspoons

Salt and ground pepper – to taste

Pasta Sauce – 3 cups (I used Prego Traditional pasta sauce)

Parmesan Cheese – 1/4 Cup (grated)

Directions:

• Rub little olive oil on the inside of a 9” baking pan/casserole dish. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
• Cook the spinach in a pan of water for 8-10 minutes and drain.
• In a bowl, lightly beat the egg and add 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella cheese, spinach, capsicum, carrots and paneer. Add the salt, pepper and chilli flakes and mix well.
• In the greased casserole dish, first spoon a layer of the pasta sauce and spread to cover the bottom of the casserole dish. Top with 3 strips of lasagne noodle. On top of this, spread a layer of the paneer mixture followed by a layer of pasta sauce.
• Repeat the above layering steps for two more times using up the 9 lasagne noodles and end with a layer of pasta sauce. Be sure to coat the lasagne noodles with enough pasta sauce to help cook the noodles.
• Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese and the parmesan cheese on top. Cover the casserole with aluminium foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Then remove the aluminium foil and continue baking for another 15-20 minutes until lasagne is bubbling and lightly browned on the top.
• Remove from oven and let it stand for 5 minutes. Cut into 4 or 6 portions and serve warm.

Veggie Cheese Balls

 This is a great choice as a appetizer when your hosting a party. I made these cheese balls a few months back when we had a game night at our place. Deep fried cheese is always a hit among guests. The panner and cheese makes this a yummy appetizer, so I often make this just when we have guests over. 

The usual cheese ball recipe sounded too plain for me. So I added some spaghetti and grated veggies to give a nice texture to the otherwise rich cheese balls. The breadcrumb coating is so crispy which complements the smoothness of the cheese filling.

When we have guests over for dinner, I usually prepare the cheese balls with the bread crumb coating in the morning, store in an air-tight container and freeze it. And when the guests arrive, I just take out the prepared balls and deep fry them and serve it hot. This way it is hassle free and piping hot.

Veggie Cheese Balls:

Makes: 25 small balls

Ingredients:
Spaghetti  Pasta – 100gms (cooked and strained)
Cheese – ¼ cup (grated)
Paneer – ½ cup (crumbled)
Beans – ¼ cup (finely chopped)
Carrots – ¼ cup (grated)
Green chillies – 5 (finely chopped)
Ginger garlic paste – 1 teaspoon
Milk – 1 ½ cups
Corn flour – 2 tablespoon
Maida – 2 tablespoon + more for coating
Breadcrumbs – 1 ½ cups
Salt – 2 teaspoon (or as needed)
Oil – for frying

Directions:

• Heat some oil in a pan.  Add the green chilies, beans, carrots and ginger garlic paste, and fry for a few minutes.
• Then add the crumbled paneer, grated cheese and salt to the vegetables, and fry. To this, add the cooked spaghetti and mix everything together.
• Mix the corn flour with the milk and add to the pasta and vegetable mixture. Cook until the mixture becomes thick.
• Add 2 tblsp of maida to the mixture and mix until well incorporated. Remove from flame and let it cool down.
• After the mixture cools down, roll into small bite sized balls.
• In a bowl mix water and maida to form a very thin paste. In another bowl take the breadcrumbs.
• Take the vegetable cheese ball and dip it into the maida paste and then coat it with the breadcrumbs.
• Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the balls until golden brown. Serve hot.

 

Pasta Alio Olio

A lot of my friends have asked me for a vegetarian pasta recipe. And hence so this post.  I make this pasta so often in our. I make it with hot hot green chillies and capsicums, both of which I love!

I came up with this recipe one night around 2 AM.  I was so so hungry, and couldn’t sleep.  So I went to my pantry and saw what I use to make a quick and satisfying meal. And found some leftover whole wheat pasta.  We try to avoid white flour in our home, and so I buy whole wheat pasta. The taste needs some getting used too, but we are used to it by now.

Pasta Alio Olio

Ingredients:

About half a pack – cooked sphagetti

3 tbl sp – Olive oil

2 – green chillies

½ - Capsicum (finely diced)

2 – cloves of garlic (finely grated)

Salt – to taste

1 table sp – mixed herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary)

1 table sp – fresh parsley/coriander (finely diced)

Directions:

      -          Heat the olive oil in a pan

-          Add the grated garlic and sauté for a minute

-          Add the chillies, salt , and capsicum. Fry well.

-          Add the mixed herbs and fry for a minute.

-          Now add the cooked pasta to the pan.

-         Sauté until well mixed and heated through.

-          Now sprinkle with fresh parsley/coriander, serve hot.