A Touch of Italian

Is there anything better than a group of Italian people in a kitchen cooking up a storm? Although not Italian myself, I absolutely love their cooking and eating culture. They certainly know how to throw a party and serve up a delicious meal.

Every year for Christmas, we go to my Italian cousins’ home and my uncle, who is quite possibly one of the best cooks around, makes an absolutely delicious Italian dinner with meatballs and manicotti. Yum!

Anyways, I always long to cook pasta, lasagna, meatballs and tomato sauce like those talented Italians, but some might argue it is a genetic thing. Either way, I’m going to give it a go.

Last week, I took my first stab at lasagna. A vegetable lasagna to be exact (I don’t love meat). And it was reaaaally good.

Here are the steps I followed:

Ingredients:

Cut the veggies into long strips and then roast them in a pan with olive oil and spices:

Simultaneously bring lasagna pasta to a boil:

 Once veggies and pasta are soft, begin to layer your lasagna pan (cover with a non-stick spray first) :

Once done layering, add some mozzarella and parmigiana cheese to the top. Cover with tin foil and bake in the oven for an hour.

And as I always love to say, taa-daaa! First go at a new Italian-style recipe - Check! My family loved it and even finished the leftovers throughout the week. I have to say, I'm loving attempting these new recipes. The process of preparing and cooking (along with eating) is so much fun.

Salute to all you Italian folk out there!