Summer Lasagna

Good Morning World!  What a great morning here in  paradise.

Yesterday's dinner time comes around and I start thinking "what to cook for dinner".  As one of many Cambrians here in SLO county I subscribe to Talley's Farm fresh box delivery of fruits and vegetables and, though me and my family absolutely love every single fruit and vegetable in the box and always finish our weekly allowance on or before the week is over; I looked in my vegetable crisper I had 2 weeks worth of yellow summer squash. I would have normally just steamed them with dinner and call it a successful conclusion to the beautiful squash but, these babies were a bit larger than most yellow squash, one would have been enough for a serving.  So I put on my thinking cap and remembered seeing a recipe in the July issue of Sunset magazine. Their recipe it's a
"Zucchini and Corn Lasagna" and, of course I tweaked this to accommodate my yellow summer squash.

This recipe takes a bit of time in preparation but it could easily be assembled ahead of time and baked right before dinner time.  The squash needs to be sliced as thin as possible, line a large baking sheet with paper towels and spread the squash over it and sprinkle with 1 1/4 teaspoon of salt and set aside for 30 minutes.  The sliced squash needs to be grilled for 2 minutes per side, I did this in my kitchen over my stove top but you can do it on your outdoor grill and it will be faster.

Summer Lasagna 

Serves 8   

Ingredients:
 3 1/2 lb yellow squash or zucchini (thinly sliced)
1 3/4 t salt, divided
1 1/2 T cooking oil or choice
1 large onion, chopped (or 1/2 C chopped shallots)
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 cups of raw corn kernels
1 t fresh thyme and oregano
15 oz ricotta cheese
3/4 C shredded Parmesan cheese
3/4 C  shredded dry mozzarella cheese
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 C basil leaved (chopped)
2 T chives (chopped)
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t pepper
1 T butter

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non stick organic cooking oil (or butter)
Follow my above instruction on the squash preparation.  Meanwhile, heat a frying pan over medium heat add oil.  Add onion and garlic brown, add corn and thyme and cook for 2 minutes.  Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the ricotta, half the cheeses, egg, basil, chives, nutmeg and 1/2 t salt and  pepper, mix to incorporate all ingredients.
Arrange a quarter of the yellow squash in bottom of dish, slightly overlapping.  Evenly spread one third of the corn/cheese mixture.  Repeat process 2 more times, ending with squash.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese and butter cut into small squares.
Bake for about 45 minutes until lasagna turns golden brown, rotate dish halfway through.  Let lasagna rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Of course you may add sausage, prosciutto or mushroom if desired 

Note:  If you find a lot of liquid concentrating on bottom of pan; tilt dish to one side by raising one end and let all liquid drain to low end.  Remove with a teaspoon before serving.