Nano's butternut squash lasagna

Ok so this isn't REALLY Nano's lasagna but when I had the family over for thanksgiving i put Nano in charge of putting the lasagna together so I told her I would say it's her lasagna. The original recipe of from Giada DeLaurentis but i changed it a bit. I made this many years ago (ok maybe it was 4 years ago) and O and I loved it so i remembered it and made it for Thanksgiving this year. During the recipe i will say when i changed the recipe.

Peel butternut squash and cut into cubes.

In a pan with olive oil saute some onions (not in original recipe)

When the onions are translucent add the butternut squash

Some salt and pepper and mix so that everything is covered in olive oil. Cover the butternut squash until it is tender (it depends on how big the pieces are)

In a mixer puree the mixture and flavor it with salt if needed. In the original recipe Giada added amaretto cookies.

Mixture after it is pureed.

Next make the béchamel sauce. In a pan melt butter and add flour. Cook the flour a little just to get rid of the flour taste but don't brown the flour.

Add the milk and whisk until thick. Season with salt and nutmeg.

In a food processor add the béchamel sauce and fresh basil leaves and process so make a green sauce.

In a lasagna pan ladle a couple spoonfuls of the butternut squash sauce then add the noodles and then a couple more spoonfuls of the butternut squash sauce.

Spread some of the basil flavored béchamel.

Sprinkle on some shaved Parmesan cheese.

In the original recipe she used regular mozzarella but i used fresh mozzarella because it is what i had at the time but next time i wouldn't use fresh because it doesn't spread as it melts.

Repeat until there is no more sauce left or you have 4 layers of noodles. I am using here the noodles that don't need to be boiled first. On the final last layer pour the rest of the basil béchamel sauce.

Sprinkle more Parmesan and some fresh mozzarella. Bake the lasagna until heated through.

Before the lasagna is done cooking i sprinkles some pine nuts on top (arab flare)

and Serve. This dish is really good, my Dad and Laith especially liked this dish however if i make it again I will add pine nuts in between layers as well as either chunks of the butternut squash (rather then a fine puree) or some other vegetable or chicken even.

Written Recipe:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 onion

1 (1 1/2 to 2-pound) butternut squash peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 1/2 cups whole milk

Sprinkle of nutmeg

3/4 cup (lightly packed) fresh basil leaves

12 no-boil lasagna noodles

2 1/2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup grated Parmesan

Cherry Tomato Pasta Aglio Olio

OK, so i haven't had any memories about my recipes lately but i definitely have one for this recipe. Well i remember that one day i came home from Saturday school and i was starving. I asked my mom what was for dinner and she told me spaghetti, like almost anyone i was excited. I looked in the pot and got really mad! At the time Mimo (my second mom) was over and she kept telling me it was so good. I tried the pasta and fell in love, of course being stubborn i didn't let my mom know my fit was for nothing. I have been looking for a recipe like the one my mom made that ONCE (she never made it again i wonder why) so i found cherry tomato at the market the other day and figured i would just make up a recipe, and boy was it good!

Fresh basil is VERY important! pick them, wash them and stack them

roll them up gently and cut so you get long thin strips

like this, its called chiffonade.

Aren't these so cute, they reminded me of little san marzanos. You can use any type of cherry tomato, if they are really big then just cut them in half.

i used a whole head of garlic and chopped them finely, don't smash them, you want it in small chunks so when it cooks it becomes sweet.

Put olive oil in a pan and heat, when the oil is hot add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Make sure to keep stirring so that the garlic doesn't burn and become bitter. At this point add in a little of the pasta water.

Add in the cherry tomatoes a cook.

Once they start to shrivel and are getting soft add in more pasta water

crush about half of the tomatoes to get a slightly pink tomato sauce.

Once the dish is done cooking add in the pasta (spaghetti) and basil and some freshly ground black pepper.

Garnish with shaved Parmesan cheese.

Written Recipe:

1 pound of spaghetti noodles

1 pint of cherry tomatoes

1 head of garlic finely chopped

10 leaves of basil chiffanaaed

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 1/2 cups of pasta water

Spaghetti Carbonara ( Halal version)

So i follow this chef on youtube, his name is Chef John and his website in foodwishes.com. So the other day he made a dish called spaghetti carbonara and i know I've heard of the name and i wondered why i never ate this before...then i remembered i don't eat pork and this ALWAYS has pork in it. Well I decided that because it is such a fast and easy dish i was going to try and make it halal because it is just not fair that i cant try a dish because it has piggy fat in it. Although i don't know what the dish is suppose to taste like i do know that this was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good (enough O's?...it was really good people). Please try this, it literally takes the amount of time that it takes pasta to boil (8 to 10 minutes). Here is how i made Spaghetti carbonara.

First boil the pasta in UNsalted water.

In a bowl mix together the egg, Parmesan cheese and black pepper.

In a pan (this is where halal comes in) saute 2 garlic cloves cut into slices and 5 strips of turkey bacon cut into strips. I added just a tiny tiny bit of oil because turkey bacon doesn't have as much fat as real Italian bacon and without it it would stick to the pan. Once the bacon is cooked and crispy i drain all the fat and set it to the side.

side note: the real carbonara doesn't have garlic but it tastes good with it.

So when i am ready to make my pasta i put some of the bacon garlic mixture in a pan.

I add about 1/2 cup of the pasta water to the hot pan and then i add the noodles.

OFF THE HEAT (very important otherwise the eggs will scramble) pour in the egg mixture and stir with a wooden spoon. The egg and cheese should form a creamy sauce, don't cook it for too long or it will become dry.

Serve it by sprinkling some more turkey bacon, shaved Parmesan cheese and some more black pepper...the black pepper makes the dish.

Written Recipe:

1 pound of spaghetti noodles (1 box)

1/2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

5 strips of turkey bacon cut into small strips

4 garlic cloves sliced

2 large eggs

1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese or Parmigiano-Reggiano (plus more for serving)

Fresh ground black pepper