Kesar milk peda

This is one of my favorite sweets from childhood. I remember whenever we get an assorted sweet box, I'll just grab the milk peda before anyone does coz I wouldn't dare to lose it at any cost (I was a little kid then, so I could be excused. couldn't I? ). I never thought that this would be so easy to make and even be done in 15 mins in microwave, until my friend enlightened me with this info. The pedas was no lesser than the store bought pedas. I gave it a try, not the microwave version, and it came out flawless. My husband took some pedas to his office and shared with his colleagues and they didn't believe it's home made. It was that perfect, and the safest bet when u have little time. The below mentioned recipe is for kesar peda which includes saffron, but you can also do the pedas without saffron.

Things you'll need:
Milk powder - 2 cups
Sweetened condensed milk - 1 can (14 Oz)
Butter - 1/2 cup (1 stick) , unsalted
Saffron - 1 pinch, soaked in 2tbsp of warm milk (optional)
Pistachios/almonds - to garnish (optional)
Ghee - as required, to grease your palms and a bowl

Yield - 25-30 pieces

Method:

Step 1:
Melt the butter in a wide bottomed vessel. Add the milk powder and the condensed milk to the butter and in low heat stir them until no lumps are formed.

Step 2:
Add the saffron with the milk to the mixture and keep stirring until it starts to leave the sides of the pan. Switch off the stove and transfer the  contents to a greased bowl.

Step 3:
When the mixture is warm enough to handle, make balls of desired size, flatten them by pressing your thumb in the center. Garnish with nuts.

You can either serve them after it is completely cooled down or store them for two weeks in an airtight container.

Tips:
You can make some designs on the pedas using food color and a basting brush.
Instead of making it as a disc, you could also try rolling the dough and cutting it in different shapes with a cookie cutter. This will lure the kids towards your pedas.
Don't leave the pedas in the heat for too long after it starts to leave the sides of the pan, or the pedas will be dry and cracked. (But they are still edible :))

Newyork cheesecake with mango jello topping

It was our sixth wedding anniversary and as usual planned on how to spend our day and what dessert to make (yeah! dessert is always part of the plan). We rounded up on cheesecake because it was on the list for too long. First I decided to try plain newyork cheesecake, but then I wanted to make it colorful and fruit based. Mango or strawberry no-bake cheesecake was an option. But I thought a layered look would be more appealing and challenging to try. So I chose to make a mango jello topped cheesecake. I wanted to keep it as a surprise element for my husband, just to see the priceless surprised look on his face when he knows that I inherited some of his experimenting skills. I also made some kesar  milk pedas for my hubby to share with his collegues. But the cheesecake  was the star of the day. One essential thing for making the cheesecake is a springfoam pan. It really helps you get your cheesecake in one piece.

Things you'll need:

Graham crackers (about 30 squares) - 2 cups, finely ground
Ground cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
Unsalted butter - 1 stick, melted
Cream cheese -  1 lb (2 8oz blocks), softened
Eggs - 3
Sugar - 1 cup
Sour cream - 1 pint
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Jello mix - 1 pack (mango flavor)


Yield - 15 to 20 servings

Method:

Step 1:
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix the graham crackers, ground cinnamon and melted butter. Grease and dust the springfoam pan and press in the graham mixture evenly on the bottom and on the sides of the pan (It need not cover the entire sides. Just an inch high on the sides will do.). Cover the pan with a plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 15 mins.

Step 2:
Using an electric hand mixer or standing mixer, mix the cream cheese until soft. Add the eggs one by one to the cheese and mix together. Add the sugar, sour cream and vanilla, one at a time, and mix well until a creamy mixture is formed without lumps.

Step 3:
Pour the cheese mixture into the chilled pan and even out. Cover the outer side of the pan with foil and place it in a roasting pan. Add boiling water to the roasting pan not above half of the springfoam pan. Place it in the oven and bake for 45 mins to an hour. The key is the slight browning of the top of the cheesecake, and the center of the cake should still be jiggling.

 Step 4:
Let it cool for 30 mins. Cover the pan and chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Prepare the jello mix according to the package directions. Allow it to cool down until the mixture feels thick and not watery. But it should not have set yet. Pour the jello mixture on top of the cheesecake. Cover it again and refrigerate until the jello is set.

Step 5:
Run a knife between the sides of the cake and the pan to loosen the cake. Unmold the cake and transfer it to a cake serving plate. Decorate it as u wish and serve.

Tips:
You could add some mango pieces to the jello mixture.
You can alternatively mix mango juice and gelatin instead of store-bought jello.
Decorate it with fresh fruits or whipped cream topping.

Sending this recipe to Vardhini's bake fest event hosted by Archana 

Beetroot cake with buttercream frosting

This is one of our experiments. Since our carrot cake was a success my husband's idea depot opened and he suggested we try the carrot cake with different unusual ingredients. His ideas included beetroot, mango, cantaloupe (seriously?) and some fruits which we couldn't have imagined as a base for cake. First I dismissed the idea thinking he was joking but then decided to help his exploration. We discussed and fixed on a safest bet...beetroot. I thought it would turn out like a red velvet cake which it didn't. It actually tasted very good. We made half of the cake with nuts and half without nuts, frosted both with buttercream frosting. We took it to a get together at a friend's place. Surprisingly the kids didn't enjoy it as much as we did (how did they sense there's a vegetable in there hmm?) I added some pink food color to the buttercream frosting which is optional. Adding nuts enhances the taste. You could add finely chopped nuts of your choice.


Things you'll need:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Baking soda - 3/4 tsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Ground cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
Ground nutmeg - a pinch
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Raw beetroots - 1 cup, grated
Eggs - 2
Sugar - 1 cup
Vanilla - 1/2 tsp
Canola or Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
Applesauce - 4 oz

For buttercream frosting:
Confectioner's Sugar -  3-4 cups
Heavy cream - 2 tbsps
Butter - 1 cup, softened
Vanilla - 1 tbsp

Yield - 15 Servings

Method:











Step 1 :
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and dust a 9 inch cake pan. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Take 2 tbsp of flour mixture and coat the beetroots in the flour mixture.

Step 2 :
With an electric mixer or hand mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla, oil, and applesauce, in medium speed until thoroughly mixed. Add the flour mixture in small batches and mix together. When the dry and wet ingredients are mixed without lumps, combine the beetroots  and nuts with the mixture.

Step 3 :
Pour into the greased cake pan and bake for 45 mins to one hour or till a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool down in the pan for 15 mins and then transfer to a wire rack and allow it to completely cool down.

Step 4 :
Prepare frosting by beating the butter to a creamy consistency then add the sugar in small batches mixing the butter and sugar with a spatula before turning the mixer on (to avoid sugar blowing everywhere). Add the  vanilla and heavy cream and beat it well until desired consistency is achieved. If you want a thick frosting add more sugar and if you want it thinner add some heavy cream one tablespoon at a time

Step 5:
Frost the cake according to your imagination and serve in slices.

Tips:
You can double the cake ingredients for a 13x9 pan or two 9 inch pans.
You can also use crushed pineapple instead of applesauce or omit them both. Adding the fruits results in a moist cake.
You can add food colors to the frosting and draw some designs on the cake.

Sending this recipe to Vardhini's bake fest hosted by tangyminds..

Carrot cake

Recently I was very much into baking cakes, actually from scratch. I used to bake cakes for my husband's birthday or if we have guests coming. But I usually use cake mixes and ready-made frosting. It was easy but not much fun. So I wanted to make at least one cake from scratch. My husband was the one who really motivated me in doing so. We got a perfect opportunity when we were visiting our friends for Christmas and one of our friend's daughter has her birthday on the same day. We decided to make a simple cake and frosting to start with and browsed a lot of  videos. I did so much browsing that my daughter at one stage wanted to watch the 'cake making' videos instead of cartoons...Even she too was so much geared up for making a cake. We finally rounded up on red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. We decided on combining two recipes, which was a grave mistake, and unfortunately it turned out to be a pinkish cake with dripping cream cheese frosting. But we somehow managed to make it up with some ready made frosting I had in my pantry and took it to the get together. Our friends were kind enough to say that the cake looked and tasted great. We promised ourselves the next time we should make a perfect  cake with a proper recipe and we tried carrot cake. Trust me...It was perfect. Even with intrusions from my kid, I managed to make it perfect. As they say there's nothing to go wrong in a carrot cake.

Things you'll need:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Baking soda - 3/4 tsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Ground cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
Ground nutmeg - a pinch
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Raw carrots - 1 cup, grated
Eggs - 2
Sugar - 1 cup
Vanilla - 1/2 tsp
Canola or Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
Applesauce - 4 oz

For cream cheese frosting:
Confectioner's Sugar -  3 cups
Cream cheese - 8 oz, softened
Butter - 1/2 cup, softened
Vanilla - 1 tsp

Yield - 15 Servings

Method:

Step 1 :
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and dust a 9 inch cake pan. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Take 2 tbsp of flour mixture and coat the carrots in the flour mixture.

Step 2 :
With an electric mixer or hand mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla, oil, and applesauce, in medium speed until thoroughly mixed. Add the flour mixture in small batches and mix together. When the dry and wet ingredients are mixed without lumps, combine the carrots with the mixture.

Step 3 :
Pour into the greased cake pan and bake for 45 mins to one hour or till a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool down in the pan for 15 mins and then transfer to a wire rack and allow it to completely cool down.

Step 4 :
Prepare frosting by mixing the butter, vanilla  and cream cheese with an electric or hand mixer at medium speed, and adding the sugar in batches.

Step 5:
Frost the cake according to your imagination and serve in slices.

Tips:
You can double the cake ingredients for a 13x9 pan or two 9 inch pans.
You can also use crushed pineapple instead of applesauce or omit them both. Adding the fruits results in a moist cake.
You can add food colors to the frosting and draw some designs on the cake.
You could add some finely chopped nuts for a rich taste. Add them along with carrots to the flour mixture.

Spinach and artichoke dip

Most of the times when we go out to eat in a local restaurant or diner we would scan through the menu for a long time and end up ordering spinach artichoke dip. This cheesy dip may make u feel guilty at first sight but who cares after the first bite. Think on the positive side...there's spinach..full of iron, vitamins and minerals..and there's artichoke high in antioxidants...and the cheese contains calcium. So a little bit of fat wont hurt right? (if we promise ourselves an extra workout the next day it could even be better). I wanted to try the recipe but I couldn't find a smaller version of the recipe serving 2-3 adults and I was not sure about the measure of the ingredients to make just a little for me and my husband. As days passed I totally lost the motivation.
Me and my friends get together at one of our homes and do potlucks once in a while. We usually do a theme like Chinese, Indian, tiffin, snacks etc.,. For the recent potluck we just ran out of ideas and we decided to make whatever we liked to do. Usually I take the dessert option for all the potlucks but for this one my friend overtook me and she wanted to make dessert (good thing she did..otherwise we would have missed the awesome dessert she made). I was ramming my head for days together to decide my recipe and suddenly it struck me..why not spinach and artichoke dip? So I made spinach and artichoke dip and vegetable quesadillas for the potluck and I am so glad that my friends liked it. It was so much that I still had some to share with my husband for dinner.

Things you'll need:

Spinach - 10 oz (I used frozen spinach)
Artichoke hearts - 14oz can
Parmesan cheese -  3/4 cup
Cream cheese - 4 oz
Mayonnaise - 3/4 cup
Mozzarella - 1/2 cup
Garlic  - 2 cloves, minced
Salt and pepper - to taste

Yield - 10 to 12 servings

Method:
Step1:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop the spinach finely. If using frozen spinach, squeeze the water out before chopping. Drain the artichoke hearts and chop them finely.

Step2:
Mix the spinach and artichoke with other ingredients in a wide oven-proof dish and combine until the cheeses and the veggies are mixed thoroughly.

Step3:
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until you see a brown edging.

Serve with tortilla chips, corn chips or toasted thin bread.

Adhirasam

Most of us south Indians know this sweet by the name Adhirasam or Ariselu. This is a traditional sweet we could see almost in all weddings or other family functions. Nowadays many sweet shops also sell this sweet. It has only two main ingredients jaggery and rice flour. But it is not simple to make it. Making soft adhirasams depend on the consistensy of the jaggery syrup we make and the quantity of flour we mix into the syrup. EVery Diwali I have tried to make Adhirasam and succeeded only couple of times. Along with the recipe I would also give some tips to get soft adhirasams and to avoid most common mistakes.

Things you'll need:
Raw rice - 2 cups
Jaggery - 1 cup
Water - 1/4 cup
Cardamom - 2, powdered
Oil - for deep frying

Yield - 20 - 25 pieces

Method:

Step1:
Wash and soak the raw rice for 2-3 hours. Drain the rice and air dry in a cloth for about 15 mins. The rice should be damp when touched but not wet. Grind the rice into fine powder.

Step2:
In a wide pan, heat the jaggery and water to make thick syrup until soft ball consistency. The soft ball consistency can be identified by putting a drop of the syrup in a bowl of water. The drop should not dissolve and it could be rolled into a soft ball. Add the cardamom powder to the syrup.

Step3:
Add the rice flour in small batches to the syrup and mix it to combine well without lumps. The dough will be in the consistency of cookie dough. Allow it to rest for at least a day in room temperature.

Step4:
Heat the oil. Take a lemon size ball of the dough and flatten it on a greased plastic sheet (you might want to grease your palms also to avoid dough sticking to your hands). Remove the adhirasam and fry them in the oil in medium heat. When the sizzling of oil is reduced turn the adhirasam and fry it until it is brown on both sides.

Step5:
Remove the adhirasam from oil and squeeze out the excess oil from the adhirasam by placing the adhirasam in a plate and pressing it with a flat bottomed bowl. (I think you get a ready-made press for adhirasams in some shops.)

Let it cool and it's all yours.

TIPS:
Use raw rice instead of ready-made rice flour. It might be a pain, drain and grind the rice but it is the key to make the best adhirasams.
You can use ghee for greasing the plastic sheet so the flavor of ghee would boost the taste of adhirasam.
The heat should be medium. Otherwise the adhirasam will be brown outside but will be uncooked inside and the dough will be squeezed out when u press the adhirasam.






 

Mysore pak

I always wonder why this sweet has been given this name? I mistook pak to be beetle nut ('pakku' in Tamil means beetle nut). But it did not fit. Then after a lot of thinking I found it must be derived from 'paggu' meaning syrup. But still I haven't found what's Mysore referring to. Doesn't matter. I like the sweet whatever it's named. The yummy taste of this sweet goes back to my childhood days. This holiday season I decided not to buy Mysore pak but to make it at home. It is one of those sweets that are not very easy to make at home. The good part is it doesn't take much time (It took less than half an hour for making it including the prep work). But you need to be focused from the beginning till the end since everything had to be done very quickly that if you take your eyes for even a moment you'll miss the consistency. Still on for it? Check out the recipe..

Things you'll need:
Gram flour - 2 cups
Ghee - 1 cup
Oil - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 cups
Water - 1/2 cup

Yield -  25 to 30 pieces

Method:

STEP1:
Grease a pan with ghee or oil. Heat 2 tbsp of oil and add it to the gram flour. Mix well and sift the flour to avoid lumps. Mix the oil and ghee and heat it in a pan. Reduce the flame to minimum so that the oil and ghee stays hot.

STEP2:
Prepare sugar syrup to one thread consistency. When the syrup reaches one thread consistency  add the flour one tablespoon at a time. Keep stirring until the flour is incorporated well in the syrup.

STEP3:
Add the oil little by little and keep stirring until the mixture becomes frothy. (Be careful not to miss this stage. Otherwise the Mysore pak will become hard or crumbly.) Immediately pour the mixture into the greased pan. Give the pan a shake to even out the mixture. Let it cool for 15 mins. Cut the Mysore pak into slices. Allow it to completely cool down.

RELISH!!!

(Since everything had to be done very fast and I didn't have help I couldn't take any photos of the process. Will try to click the pics of each step when I try it next time.)

TIPS :
You can use ghee instead of ghee and oil mixture.
The color of Mysore pak depends upon the flame. If you need dark colored Mysore pak increase the flame a little higher.

Boondi laddu

This needs no introduction. People who are addicted to sweets just like me would definitely be in love with laddus be it boondi laddu, mothi laddu, rava laddu etc., The very thought of laddu makes my mouth water. From our childhood we couldn't even remember how many times have we tasted this sweet, one at a time or even more. But we never got bored of laddu or probably never will. Since this sounded a very tricky thing to make at home, I've always bought it rather than making it at home. I attempted once some time after my wedding, but all I got was only boondi and not laddu. After couple of years, one of my friends shared home made boondi laddu for their wedding day (or birthday?) and I was so impressed by the texture and taste of it and it was no different from the laddu we get in stores. I was also surprised when she told me it doesn't take much time and it's not very tricky to make it at all. She gave me some cheat codes on how to make perfect laddu without failure.
But I didn't get it perfect for the first time, but I got confident that I could make it at home and now if my husband asks me whether we could make laddus for an occasion I would never give a second thought.

Things You'll need:
Besan (chickpea flour) - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Oil - for deep frying
Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp, chopped
Raisins - 1 tbsp
Cardamom powder or Rose essence - 1 tsp
Ghee - 2 tsp

Yield - 20-25 pieces

Method:

Step1:
Mix water to the besan little by little and make a batter of pouring consistency (it should not be very thin or watery). In a heavy bottomed vessel add sugar and water, stir until sugar is melted and bring it to a boil. Let it boil in a medium flame until one thread consistency is reached. (This should take five or six minutes after the syrup comes to a boil. Check by taking little syrup in a spoon and touching the syrup with your index finger and thumb. The syrup should for a single thread when the index finger  and thumb are stuck together and released.). Add the cardamom powder or rose essence to the syrup and switch off the stove.

Step2:
Using a ladle with holes ("jalli karandi")  pour the besan into medium hot oil, so that the besan forms into small balls (boondi) in the oil. Once the balls are fried and float above, pick them up, shake the excess oil and place the boondis in the hot syrup.

Step3:
Repeat with remaining batter. Before adding the last batch of boondis (or even couple of batches before the last) coarsely grind the boondis and add them to the syrup. This will help in binding the boondis together. Mix the boondis well into the syrup.

Step4:
Heat the ghee in a pan and fry the cashews and raisins. Add them to the boondi-syrup mixture. When the syrup is warm enough to handle, scoop a handful of boondi-syrup mixture and press it into a laddu. Repeat with remaining boondi-syrup mixture. Let it cool for sometime until the laddus are bound together and they are all yours.

Baklava!!!

I didn't know that a dessert named baklava existed before my friend brought this for us when we met in the park. She was suddenly caught with desire to cook desserts and lucky for us we got something to snack every other day we meet in the park. This is a greek dessert not very easy to make, but uses very less ingredients tastes yummy. I made this for a get together, for the first time and got a lot of appreciation. There's nothing to go wrong in this and with a little bit of painting experience (I am not kidding when I say this) you could do this very quickly.

Things you'll need:
Filo dough (you could find it the freezer section of your supermarket) - 1 pack (contains about 20 sheets)
Sugar - 1 cup +1tbsp
Water- 1/2 cup
Mixed nuts (almonds, walnuts,pecans) - 2 cups (coarsely ground)
ground cinnamon - 1 teaspoon
Pistachios - a handful, coarsely ground
Butter - melted, as required, for brushing the dough

Yield - 24 pieces
Method:
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Remove the filo dough from the wrap and place it flat on the counter covering with a damp kitchen towel. This prevents the dough from getting dry and breaking. Mix cinnamon and 1 tbsp sugar into the nut mixture.










Step2:
Grease a shallow bake pan, arrange one of the filo sheets and brush it with butter (brush liberally to cover the entire sheet). Repeat with 6 more sheets. Divide the nut mixture into halves. Layer one half on the filo dough layer.

Step3:
Arrange seven filo sheets one by one, brushing each sheet with butter, above the nut layer. Layer the remaining half of the nut mixture on top of the filo layer. Arrange the remaining filo sheets, one by one, brushing each one with butter.

Step4:
Sprinkle the pistachios on top, score the sheets into 24 pieces (you don't have to cut through, just score it gently). Place it in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes.

Step5:
Prepare sugar syrup with 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup water. (There is no consistency constraint here..so a not-so thick syrup should do..)

Step6:
When the baklava is ready, Remove it from the oven and pour the sugar syrup evenly over the baklava and allow it to cool.

Wait!  not yet...Chill it in the refrigerator for at least an hour or overnight for best results..and there's nothing stopping you from savoring the delicious baklava..

 

Strawberry kesari

Nowadays the sweet tooth for me and my husband are growing bigger and we are craving dessert after each meal. I bought some fresh strawberries the other day (nope..we are not great fans of strawberries and my kiddo is one step ahead..she doesn't like any fruits at all) with the idea of making strawberry pancakes or adding them to fruit salad with apple and bananas. I made the fruit salad with half of the strawberries and even managed to sneak a couple of them in my kiddo's lunchbox (knowing it will go anywhere but my child's mouth). I didn't want to waste them and decided to make a dessert with the remaining fruits. As I expected my husband also suggested the same and specifically he wanted me to make strawberry kesari which I have tried only once a long time back. I had the same thing in mind so I readily accepted, although my response was "OK..I don't want to waste the fruits, but you should really have control on how much sweet you are eating". Presenting the yummy, sweet and pinkalicious strawberry kesari..

Things you'll need:
Semolina (rava) - 3/4 cup
Strawberry pulp - 1/2 cup
 (You can extract the pulp by grinding the strawberries as it is or with some milk, and you could filter it if you don't want the seeds in your mouth while enjoying the kesari )
Sugar - 3/4 cup or less (You might not want the sugar to overpower the flavor of the fruit)
Ghee (clarified butter) - 5 tbsp
Cashew nuts - 1tbsp
Raisins - 1 tbsp

Yield - 4 Servings

Method:

Step1:
Roast the semolina with a tsp of ghee until nice aroma from the semolina arises.  On a pan, add 3 tbsp of ghee and fry the cashew nuts and raisins until the raisins are puffed and the nuts are slightly browned. Add the water.











Step2:
Bring the water to a boil and add the semolina stirring continuously to avoid lump formation. Reduce the heat to minimum, add the strawberry pulp to the the mixture and stir well until it gets absorbed well.

Step3:
Add the sugar and stir. Adding sugar will make the kesari slightly watery but once the sugar gets incorporated well the consistency changes, so nothing to worry.  When the sugar gets mixed well and the kesari leaves the sides of the pan, Switch off  the stove and add the remaining ghee and stir well.

Yummy strawberry kesari is ready for you to enjoy...

Lasagna!!!!

I remember the first time we went to an Italian restaurant and I looked upon the menu and asked what's lasagna? My husband looked me with a teasing smile, not because I didn't know what lasagna is but because I pronounced it as lasag-na and not lasan-ya. But when I actually saw it, I wondered , How could I eat this without messing up..still couldn't find a way to eat it without a mess. Since it is loaded with cheese, I resist myself from having it often. Only once did we try this at home..It does take a lot of time and effort, but it definitely is worth the effort.
I have posted the recipe of chicken lasagna.You can substitute with a vegetable of your choice or use your favorite pasta sauce.

Things you'll need:
Lasagna noodles - 8 oz (1/2 pack)
ground chicken - 1/2 lb
Olive oil - 1tbsp
Spaghetti sauce or your favorite pasta sauce - 2 cups
Ricotta cheese - 8 oz
Parsley - 1 cup finely chopped  (you can also chop and add some spinach leaves)
Mozzarella cheese - 4 cups, shredded
salt - as required
Ground black pepper - as per taste

Yield - 4 Servings

Method:

Step1:
Boil water in a large pot enough to fit the lasagna noodles (if you don't have a big pot you can evenly break the noodles into two). Add some salt and the noodles. Cook the noodles according to package directions. They will take approx. 8 to 10 mins to cook.

Step2:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl mix the ricotta cheese and the parsley with a couple of pinches of salt.  In a heated pan pour the olive oil and when the is hot add the ground chicken with some salt and pepper. Cook the chicken while separating them with a spatula. When the chicken is almost done, add the sauce and cook for a couple of minutes until the mixture is thick.


















Step3:
Take a baking pan, preferably of 13x9 dimension, spread half of the chicken-sauce mixture evenly in the bottom of the pan, then arrange half of the cooked noodles flat on the mixture. Spread half of the ricotta cheese on the noodles. Sprinkle half  of the mozzarella cheese on top. Repeat this by arranging chicken- sauce mixture, noodles, ricotta cheese and mozzarella.

Step4:
Cover the baking pan with aluminium foil, so that steam doesn't escape. Bake the lasagna for 30 mins, then uncover the pan and bake for another 10 or 15 mins. Viola!! Lasagna!!