Delishytown

Guess what’s better than this on a chilly autumn night? That’s right, not anything. This Greek Lasagna is easy to make even though there are a few steps involved. It’s really just chopping and whisking. You’ll be happy you made the effort when you take that first amazing bite. Make a lot because the leftovers are even better.

In a large skillet brown ground beef or ground lamb and then drain off the fat. Add 1 chopped onion and 2 smashed garlic cloves. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1 large can chopped tomatoes, 1 small can tomato paste and 2 cups chicken stock. Simmer. Season with fresh grated nutmeg (bout 1/2 of a nutmeg) and 1/2 tsp cinnamon to taste. Simmer on low.

Heat oven to 350 and butter a baking dish. 

Boil water and cook your favorite macaroni, any tube pasta works best for this.

In a sauce pan cook 2 tblsp butter and 2 tblsp flour until they bubble. Add 2 cups milk and whisk until it thickens. Season with salt & pepper and fresh grated nutmeg, remove from heat. 

In a bowl add 1 small container ricotta and 1/2 cup parmesan. Slowly add the cooled bechamel and 2 scrambled eggs.

Combine 3/4 of the pasta with the meat sauce and the rest with the cheese sauce. Put the pasta & meat sauce in the bottom of the baking dish and top with the cheese (& pasta) sauce.

Bake until bubbly, about 45 minutes. Yum!!

These Hungarian Crepes make you happy and sorta make me feel like a kid. Maybe it’s because my Grandma used to make these for us when she came over to hang out with us after school before my folks got home from work. My Grandma taught me a lot about gardening and cooking. She was wonderful, funny and very kind and sweet.

I grew the strawberries in this photo. Strawberries love acid soil, so  I’ve been pouring day old coffee and spent coffee grounds on the soil around my strawberry plants. The plants love it and have been producing strawberries every day, even in this heat wave. Coffee and coffee grounds acidify the soil and add extra nitrogen. Or maybe it just wakes the plants up so they get to work making strawberries. Either way, if you’re growing berries, don’t throw the coffee grinds in the trash. 

  Here’s how to make Hungarian crepes, Granny Style:  In a mixing bowl, 1 cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour because I like to pretend that I’m being super healthy when I eat my butter and jelly), 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 tblsp melted butter, 2 eggs, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 1/2 cups milk. Whisk until smooth. Pour 1/4 cup of the batter into a hot skillet coated with melted butter. Swirl the pan to coat the bottom and flip. These are thin so they cook quickly. Spread with jelly and roll up. Dust with powdered sugar.