Lasagna Lover

I think I'm related to Garfield. Not the President, rather the lazy, hedonistic cartoon cat. We have similar views on life, love, and food, he and I. We are spectacularly lazy upon occasion, we don't suffer fools gladly, and we both love lasagna.

I set out last week to make some vegetable lasagna, as I have done and reported about before. I did much the same things with this batch, but the only tweak I made to the original recipe really made a difference - a delightful difference! - so I wanted to tell you about it. I'll be doing it this way from now on.

In the original recipe, I mix in a package of thawed, chopped spinach into the ricotta/parmesan filling before spreading it in layers between the noodles and the sauce. This time, I had a big bunch of fresh basil on hand from the gnocchi recipe we had made earlier, so I thought rather than use spinach, I would make a chiffonade of basil leaves to mix in instead. 

I cut off about twenty five of the leaves, stacked and rolled them together, then cut them crosswise with a sharp knife. The whole kitchen was perfumed with basil scent, probably the best scent possible on earth. Fluffed, they make a nice little mound of basil, which you can chop even finer if you wish. I left mine in fine strings.

If I do say so myself, it was pure genius. Instead of just greenery, I got extra rich flavor from the basil, which you can see as little green threads on the left side of the photo. I wouldn't have thought it would make such a significant difference, but it really does.

I should really box up a serving of this and send it to Garfield. He'd love it.