Whenever I take a trip, I attempt to keep a journal. I want to remember all the little details, the activities, and, most importantly, what I ate.
Unfortunately, I started this habit after one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. I’m talking about my first trip to Italy. Italy with wide eyes, with my family, half my lifetime ago. We all stayed with my dad’s aunt and uncles and most of our time sitting at the kitchen table, (lots of language-barrier smiling, not too much talking) eating. We’d have caffè latte in the mornings and butter cookies from a tin. We thought it was hilarious how my uncle would crunch up handfuls of cookies and float them in his latte, like how we eat cereal with milk. There would be minestra for lunch. Every dinner would end with my aunt bringing out apples and big wedges of cheese and teaching my little brother to use the moka pot.
I just wish I remember what every dinner was. I remember them all being good and I have a foggy memory of a crepe lasagna that was absolutely delicious. Of course, I have no recollection of what was in it, just that it was wonderful and I could have kept eating it forever.
So that’s what I was thinking about as I assembled this lasagna, wondering what my aunt had put in hers and hoping mine would measure up.
Mine is a very autumnal lasagna. It’s made with a stack of nutty, whole wheat crepes, earthy mushroom duxelles, sweet butternut squash, béchamel, and plenty of melted cheese. As it bakes, the layers of flavor meld together into something that is pure comfort. Is it a replica of what I previously ate? No, but it’s a delicious way to bring past food memories into the present. I think you’re going to like it, too.
Cool fall days always leave me longing for an afternoon cup of coffee. And somehow that cup of coffee just does not seem right without a warm cookie at its side. And if that cookie involves cinnamon and spice, maple or molasses, all the better.
I love cooking this time of year. The weather has cooled to the point where spending a Sunday afternoon in the kitchen feels so right. My head (and belly) start thinking about cooking projects, the kind of cooking I don’t do in the summer. I’m thinking homemade pasta, got to roll out a batch of pasta.