What are you doing there lasagna noodle? Are you lost? Have you lost your casserole dish and layers of sauce and cheese? Wouldn't you be more comfortable after a warm spell in the oven? A couple of years ago on my trip to Italy, I had a surprising dish - lasagna noodles in a small pile with a creamy pesto. It blew my mind that you could serve lasagna without form, but in reality it makes sense. Pasta is pasta, right? So I used these noodles as the base of my dinner celebrating the onset of spring.
While boiling the lasagna in a pot of salted water, I sauteed my vegetables. I used baby zucchini and yellow squash as well as some frozen green beans. Once all the vegetables were cooked through but still crisp-tender, I removed them from the heat. Then I warmed up some leftover garlicky pasta sauce. Once the noodles were cooked, I drained them and began plating. First a few lasagne, then a healthy portion of sauce, lots of veggies, and lastly some freshly grated Parmesan.
What I found nice about this dish is that the pasta slowed me down. Normally, most pastas can be eaten very quickly so the meal goes way too fast and you eat more than you should. With the lasagna noodles, though, you have to cut each bite before you eat it. This made the meal all the more pleasurable. The fresh snap of the vegetables exuded springtime freshness. So break free of the confines of your Pyrex bakewear and let your lasagna take the shape it wants.
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