Weekend Dinner

My love of a good dinner party is well documented.  As much as I love restaurants, nothing beats eating with friends and/or family in the comfort of your (or their) home.  You can sit and linger and open another bottle of wine long after the meal is finished, without worrying that someone is waiting for the table.

You can laugh loudly at stories without disturbing the awkward second date two tables over.

You open the wine during the cooking, so by the time we get to dinner, everyone is happy and relaxed. Restaurants and good chefs give me new ideas and turn out food that can be just about perfect, but it never feels as good as at home.

So if you don’t yet have plans for this weekend, invite a few friends over for dinner.  Good peeps, good food & good tunes – what more could a gal want?

Ahhh … a menu perhaps!

May recommend this arugula lasagna?    Since it can be assembled in advance, it is a perfect when having friends over, as the work is done before they arrive. And unlike a traditional lasagna, this one is light and almost delicate – both from the fresh pasta and the ricotta tempered down with some milk and cream – but still bright and interesting – from the peppery arugula and the gorgonzola in the cheese mixture.

To keep it a vegetarian dinner, just serve it with a simple salad or roasted cherry tomatoes (for some color too) – but if you have meat or fish eaters in the crowd, it pairs nicely with mussels or a thinly sliced steak would also be great.

But let’s be honest, this lasagna is best complimented by good wine and friends.  And sitting at the table much longer than planned, enjoying the combination.

But then, that is {likely} why you are at home in the first place!

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The original recipe says serves 8-10.  I would be more comfortable saying 6, as it is pretty thin and inspires seconds!

Also, the recipe called for 1 pound fresh pasta, but my package only had about 9 oz. (which I realized too late), and I finished the pasta at the same time as the filling.  And I was able to squeeze out 5 layers rather than 4- so I really don’t know how she fit in that extra pasta.

And as I am typing this up, I realize the fresh pasta should have been pre-cooked. Oops, I missed that step and did think it was a touch dry, so cooking them in advance would likely eliminate that.

• 1 pound fresh lasagna sheets, cooked briefly or soaked in hot water
• ½ cup gorgonzola cheese
• ½ cup milk, divided, plus extra if needed after cooking
• ²⁄3 cups ricotta
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1½ cup grated fresh Pecorino, divided
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• freshly cracked black pepper
• ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 12 ounces Arugula
• 2 tablespoons butter, plus more for buttering casserole dish
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ¼ teaspoon red chile flakes
• ½ cup toasted pine nuts (I only used ¼ cup)
• 2 shallots thinly sliced and sauteed in butter

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Prepare 13 inch x 9 inch casserole dish with butter.

Mix together gorgonzola and ¼ cup milk. Add ricotta, heavy cream, ½ cup Pecorino, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Chop the arugula thinly, reserving about 12 leaves for garnish (I only had baby arugula, so I saved about ½ cup to layer on top). Sauté arugula in 2 T. butter just until wilted. Add minced garlic and chile flakes sauté for about one minute. Add arugula mixture to cheese mixture.

Add ¼ cup milk to buttered casserole dish. Cover bottom of casserole with a layer of prepared lasagna noodles.

Top with a quarter (or less) of the cheese and arugula mixture (as I mentioned in the notes, I ended up with 5 thin layers). Continue layering, ending with cheese and arugula mixture.

Top with remaining 1 cup Pecorino, pine nuts, reserved arugula leaves and sauteed shallots.

Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and cook for an additional 15 minutes. When you remove foil, if corners look dry, add a little milk to each corner.

Let lasagna rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.