~A Warm Dinner and a Taste of the Tropics~

Tonight I tried a different take on lasagna. Actually, it was more like lasagna meets spaghetti- and I'm proud to say it was definitely a success!

Making it was interesting too- I first pan fried 1 pound of ground beef with half of a diced onion. At the same time, I boiled half a package of thin spaghetti. I then needed to make some marinara sauce to add on top of the ground beef- I used a whole can of tomato paste, about 1.5 cups of water, salt, onion powder, fresh garlic paste, fresh basil (that I froze when I had the actual plant in the summer), and some oregano. It was SO TASTY! I then added cooked peas and carrots to the beef mix (about 1 cup).

Just one thing was left to make- béchamel sauce. I mixed some flour and olive oil in the bottom of a pot over medium-low heat until they were an equally blended consistancy. I then added about 2-3 cups of milk, one chicken bouillon cube, and about 1-2 tbs of cornstarch (to make it thicker).

After the spaghetti finished cooking, I split them in half and laid one half in the bottom of a pretty deep serving dish/bowl. I then spread the beef marinara combination on top of the noodles, followed by the other half (kind of like a sandwich). After that, I poured the creamy béchamel on top of everything, allowing it to reach every inch by forking it through the spaghetti.

What made this dish the most decadent was the shredded mozzarella spread over the entire platter. I placed it in the oven at around 350 degrees until I saw the cheese melt- then broiled it for about 1-2 minutes until it had a pizza-like effect. The best part of eating this delish dish was the crunchiness of the toasted fromage.

Gotta let our taste buds visit the tropics after an Italiano meal- this calls for a milkshake! I just tossed few strawberries, 2 cups of fat free milk, and about 2-3 tbs sugar into the blender- product: a super tasty drink to sip on while relaxing on the comfy couch after a dragging day.

(Oh, and you can so tell that I was too impatient to taste the treat before taking the pic, by that lip stain on the glass rim) I need to find the charger for my camera, sorry for low quality photos.  It's been lost.  for a while now.

bm