Yesterday, my fridge was in dire need of a cleaning out -- not with disinfectant and a sponge, but with a hungry stomach willing to devour a whole ton of almost-bad veggies. At first, I was thinking about a veggie casserole. Then I remembered that I had dried some homemade egg pasta into fettucini and lasagna noodles. Ding, ding!
Picking up some fennel and cheese at the store, I decided to make a Pernod/Anise-flavored kitchen-sink lasagna. It was oh-so-good (even if I had to wait until 10 PM for it to be done), and shows just how versatile the classic dish is.
Instead of spinach in my ricotta, I sauteed some bok choy with a sprinkle of anise seeds to mix in. And then I set about preparing my lasagna's two layers. One consisted of the fennel, misc. peppers, and onion, with some anise seed sprinkled in as it sauteed, and the other consisted of quickly fried petit pan squash slices. Meanwhile, I reduced a quick sauce of a can of chopped tomatoes, some spices, and some Pernod.
All layered and baked, there was a nice freshness from the vegetables, with the Pernod adding a good zap of flavor to make up for the missing meat. Anise flavor in Italian food is just magic, so if you have any good recipes, please share them below.
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