This week we made corn poblano lasagna, but Ben is suspicious of poblanos. We had some hot ones once, and you would think I was Mommy Dearest. I didn’t make him eat them, mind you. They were just nestled in a dish he really wanted a go at, so he picked them out and still complained heavily.
Our cooking this week adhered to Ben’s Starbuck’s coffee principle – he once told me he loves Starbuck’s coffee without the coffee. I said, “Ben, that’s just whipped cream, chocolate and sugar!’ Ben said, “Yes.”
We made corn poblano lasagna, a dish inspired by Marcella Vallodolid, but we’ve been trying to healthify some of our favorite dishes. Ben tasted the roasted poblano peppers and gave them a thumbs down, so we made him a separate ramekin that omitted them. Here’s the skinny (and the fat!)
Corn Poblano Lasagna (original ingredients in parentheses!)
4 poblano peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded, and cut
2 teaspoons olive oil (4 tablespoons butter) divided
2 small or one large yellow squash, sliced thinly, lengthwise, on a mandoline
1 onion, sliced thinly
3 cobs of fresh corn, kernels cut from the cob
3 cloves of garlic, minced (divided)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
1 12-ounce can skim evaporated milk plus 1/2 cup skim milk (2 cups heavy cream)
1 package no-cook lasagna noodles
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (enough cheese to feed Italy)
While you are roasting the peppers, prepare your other veggies.
In a bread loaf pan, place lasagna noodles in hot water to soften slightly, but don’t leave them in more than a couple minutes, or you’ll regret it.
In one saucepan, over medium-low heat, sauté in half the oil (butter) half of the garlic, all the corn, and the milk (cream). Add oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5 minutes and remove from heat. Blend mixture in blender. This is your lasagna “sauce”.
In another saucepan, sauté in the other half of the oil (butter) the rest of the garlic, the onion, squash and poblanos. Add salt and pepper to taste.
In a baking dish, pour one fourth of the corn sauce. Next, place a layer of noodles down. Follow with a third of the squash mixture and a sprinkling (fistful) of mozzarella. Repeat layers three times, ending with the remaining mozzarella.
Bake, covered, at 350º for 40 minutes. Remove foil for last 10 minutes, so cheese can brown slightly.
