And the winner is.....someone else!

About a month ago I got the crazy idea to enter the Mezzetta "Make that Sandwich" contest. I'm not sure why - it just seemed like a fun thing to do. I have never created a recipe totally from the ground up; I've always just modified other people's recipes to my liking and called it good. But this time, this recipe, is all my own. Actually, I do have to give some of the credit to my co-worker Peggy who gave me a jumping off point for the sandwich recipe and I went from there. I assured her that if I won the $25,000 grand prize (and a trip to the Napa Valley) I would make a substantial donation to her favorite cause- the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.
It took me about a week to tweak my recipe to my satisfaction and I had a number of different taste testers who assured me I had a "winner." I confidently sent in my recipe and waited with anticipation until Sept 23 when they would announce the winners and I would get my grand prize-winning phone call. Well, the 23rd has come and gone and no one has called or written to inform me of my big winnings and I just checked the Mezzetta's web site to find the names and photos of the winners, so I guess it's safe to say I won't be making any hefty donations or paying off my credit cards and taking a long-awaited vacation to Tuscany.

That being said, I did enjoy coming up with a dish that's all my own. And now, I can go ahead and share it with you. Enjoy!

Mediterranean Mash up Wrap
1 6 oz container of plain Greek yogurt
3 T Napa Valley Bistro Basil Pesto
1 cup Mezzetta's Italian Mix Giardiniera, chopped
3/4 cup Mezzetta's Roasted Red Bell Peppers, chopped
1/2 cup Mezzetta's Sun-ripened Dried tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup red grapes, halved
1 deli rotisserie roasted chicken breast, shredded
1/2 bag spring mix
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 Flat-Out Light Sundried Tomato wraps

For the dressing

Combine 1 6 oz container of plain Greek yogurt and 3 tbsp of Napa Valley Bistro Basil Pesto. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.

Prepare the filling

1. Roughly chop the Giardiniera, red bell peppers and sundried tomatoes

2. Halve the red grapes.

3. Using two forks or your fingers, shred the chicken breast.

To assemble the sandwich

1. Spread 2 tbsps of yogurt/basil dressing on a sundried tomato wrap

2. Place about 1/2 cup of spring mix on top of dressing.

3. Top spring mix with 1 tbsp chopped giardiniera, 1 tbsp chopped red pepper, 1 tbsp chopped sun dried tomato.

4. Top chopped vegetables with 2-3 tbsp of shredded chicken.

5. Top chicken with 1 tbsp of sliced grapes.

6. Top with 1/2 tbsp crumbled feta cheese.

7. Roll sandwich tightly and slice on the diagonal.

Summer's End Lasagna

Even though last Monday, Labor Day, marked the end of summer (to most people), I am firmly in the camp of those who refuse to concede that summer is over until the first frost arrives- or at least until the early morning temperatures are in the 40s. As I write this, I'm sitting in my Adirondack chair in the backyard, listening to my fountains gurgling water and watching the sparrows flocking to my bird feeders. The sprinkler is on in my garden, watering my tomato and pepper plants which are still producing profusely every day. And I'm also sweating - even though it's only 11 am. So for me, summer is definitely still here.
To celebrate the "end of summer" last Monday, I put together a summer lasagna, full of veggies from the garden. My friend Anna had given me her recipe a while back and I took that and modified it until I ended up with my own version. Sadly, I have no photograph to show you how wonderful it looked when it was finished. I don't know what happened to my photo, I'm sure I took one but I can't find it, so you'll just have to make the recipe yourself to see the end result.
This is one of those recipes that falls firmly into the category of weekend cooking, because it's very time intensive to get ingredients chopped and the lasagna assembled.
So celebrate the passing of summer with this great lasagna recipe. You'll be wishing summer would never end.
Summer's End Lasagna 
Ingredients
1 container of store-bought pesto
1 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 cooked lasagna noodles.
Tomato/Sausage sauce
1 lb of sweet Italian sausage

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup diced eggplant

1 cup diced zucchini

½ small red pepper seeded and diced
½ small yellow pepper seeded and diced
½ red onion, diced
2 teaspoon chopped fresh basil
2 clove garlic, finely minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
28 fl. oz.can whole tomatoes
5 oz can of tomato paste

1 teaspoon of sugar

1. Heat olive oil on medium-high in a large skillet . Add sausage meat and cook until just browned, about 7 minutes. Remove cooked sausage from the pan and set aside, leaving the oil in the pan.
2. Add eggplant, zucchini, peppers and onion to the pan and cook until just beginning to soften, then add the garlic, chopped basil and red pepper flakes. Cook for two minutes.
3. Add can of whole tomatoes and break tomatoes up with with a wooden spoon. Add tomato paste and stir until combined. Simmer tomato sauce for about 10 minutes. Season sauce with sugar and salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble the Lasagna
Place a thin layer of pesto on the bottom of a 8x11 glass baking dish (2 quarts). Add a layer of the tomato/sausage sauce, top with some of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and top with 3 lasagna noodles. Repeat layer, (pesto, tomato sausage, cheeses, noodles). Top layer should end with tomato/sausage sauce and  remaining cheeses.
Bake at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes. Let lasagna sit for about 10 minutes before slicing.

Pesto please

I have to admit, up until about three years ago, I was never a fan of pesto. To me, it looked like clippings out of the lawnmower bag so I assumed it would also have the same flavor as a handful of grass clippings (not that I make a habit of eating grass clippings, but you know what I mean). It just looked "green." I don't remember the first occasion when I tried pesto but I do remember that once I tasted it, I was hooked. I fed my addiction with the different varieties of pesto that you can find in the grocery store and that always seemed good enough to me - until the first time I made my own pesto. After that first bite of homemade pesto, there was just no going back to the other stuff.
And it's just so darned easy to make, why would you ever want to go back to the grocery store version? A handful of fresh basil, some Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil and whirl in the food processor and there you have it - fresh pesto. If you're a pesto purist, you can always make it using the mortar and pestle method, but I prefer the quicker and easier food processor method to whip up some of that 'green goodness.'
Pesto will keep for up to three weeks in the fridge if you store it properly - a thin layer of olive oil on top and tightly capped. It can also be frozen for up to a year. Just pack it in small enough quantities that you can just thaw what you need. If you have a bumper crop of basil in the garden, as I do this year, but not enough time to whip up endless batches of pesto, trying freezing the plain, chopped basil in olive oil in ice cube trays and then store the blocks of frozen basil in plastic bags. Then you can make a batch of fresh pesto in the dead of winter - when those store bought varieties are calling to you from the grocery store shelves.
I found this recipe for classic pesto in a neat little cookbook called "Very Pesto" by Dorothy Rankin.

Ingredients
2 cups loosely packed basil leaves
2 large garlic cloves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts or walnut halves
1/2 cup good quality olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper

Combined the basil, garlic, cheese and nuts in the bowl of a food processor. Process to mix. With the machine running, slowly add the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and process to desired consistency. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Makes about 1 cup.