Lasagna Mushroom Caps

When we were trying to come up with our meals for the week a while back, I wanted to do a new take on lasagna. I had previously made a mushroom lasagna and that was wonderful, but I wanted something slightly less labor-intensive. I wanted the essence of lasagne without the pasta. Weird, I know. What's lasagna without the noodles? Be patient with me, it's worth your wait.

The flash of an idea! I can take the robust tomato sauce and the creamy mozzarella, and layer them directly into a large mushroom cap. Nom! I'm always on board whenever stuffed mushrooms are involved. To keep with the lasagna theme, I layered the mozzarella and tomato sauce, alternating like you would for a regular lasagna. The different textures combined in a savory and oh-so-delicious way. While the mushrooms were cooking, we took the rest of the tomato sauce and dipped some garlic toast in for an appetizer. If you don't plan on snacking while your meal is cooking, you can cut the tomato sauce in half. But I wholly recommend the garlic toast and tomato sauce appetizer.

Italian-Style Stuffed Mushrooms
2 8oz cans tomato sauce (I used one Roasted Garlic, and one Basil, Garlic, and Oregano)
1 6 oz can tomato paste
8 large button mushrooms
2/3 cup mozzarella
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil, red pepper, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Simmer at medium/medium-low heat for 15 minutes.

3. Rinse and de-stem mushrooms. In each mushroom, layer a sprinkling of mozzarella, a spoonful of the tomato mixture, mozzarella, tomato mixture, and topped with mozzarella. Place mushrooms in a greased 8x8 glass pan. Top with ground pepper and olive oil.

4. Bake for 25 minutes, until mushrooms are soft to touch.

Savory Cauliflower Waffles

Let's be honest here. My husband is not always excited by my dinner ideas sparked by Pinterest. This was one of those times. "Honey! Look! Savory waffles with cauliflower! Yum" was met with a stern look. He's such a good sport so he let me go ahead and try the recipe. We had a backup meal planned just in case it didn't turn out as yummy as I hoped.

It turned out better. Honestly, we spent the whole meal around the waffle iron. One would come out, and we would pounce on it. Once we finished one, another was ready to come out of the iron!

I'm always one for adding avocado. I could eat avocado every single day and be as happy as can be. While we were attacking the waffles, I saw some avocados out of the corner of my eye. I knew it was meant to be. We decided to fancy up the dish a bit. Breaking the waffles at the creases, we then topped with mashed avocado and a shake of cayenne pepper. Sweet bliss. The flavors melded together like I could only hope.

AJ now requests this meal every few months. It's fancy pub fare and it's packed with flavor. You can serve it as an appetizer, or just eat it all like we do.

Savory Cauliflower Waffles
Adapted from The Lighter Side
2 cups cauliflower
2 cups shredded mozzarella
2/3 cups shredded parmesan
4 eggs
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 avocado
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
cayenne pepper, for garnish

1. Mash avocado and sea salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. In a food processor, pule the cauliflower and mozzarella until it looks like course crumbs (picture above).

3. In a large bowl, stir to combine the first 9 ingredients (cauliflower to parsley).

4. Scoop 1/2 cup of the mix into a hot waffle iron (We have a belgian waffle iron. If you have a smaller iron, you may need to use less. It should mostly fill the iron). Cook in waffle iron for 4-6 minutes. It's done when it comes out easily with a fork.

5. Cut along creases. Top each section with a spoonful of the mashed avocado and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper.