Sausage and Spinach Lasagne; Early Mornings are for the Birds!

Happy Monday! 

Just a few spring flowers....

Our week always gets off to an early start. 

The trash collector comes by around 5:30 am. 

In this quiet hamlet in the middle of nowhere we can hear him coming for about 3 kilometres.  Yes, unbelievable as it may seem to some of you, a truck on the road in the wee hours is unusual enough to wake us out of a sound sleep.

It's quiet here.

The small town that I grew up in had a major rail line going through it (as all small towns on either side of the Mississippi do).

I don't know how many trains went through each day.  I never heard them.  No one did. 

We were all so used to them that we would automatically stop talking as they approached; resume after they passed and not know that we did it.

Mon mari found this fascinating!  And irritating.  When we visited my parents he heard every train, all day and all night.  I never heard one.  All the dishes in the cabinets would rattle and we would pay no attention.

How I have changed.

I'm used to the quiet.  I like the quiet. 

But soon the quiet of our little hamlet will be broken, once again, for months.  All summer long our early morning slumber is disturbed; the peace destroyed.

Road construction, you think?   No.  Lawn mowing?  No.  Farmers and tractors? No.

It's the birds. 

It all starts about mid-March when the cuckoos come back (yes, they sound just like the clocks).  They start to cuckoo, then the doves start to coo, and pretty soon the whole neighborhood is alive with birds chattering and singing and calling.  Even the neighbors rooster likes to get in on the act. 

It sounds like an avian symphony playing the opening strains of a Wagnerian opera.... Badly.

It's loud!

And it gets louder every morning, all spring, building up to a crescendo around the first of June.  It will slowly taper off and we will once again be blessed with silence by October.

My mother, who is rather hard of hearing (polite, aren't I?) misses hearing the birds in the morning. 
But what she misses is hearing A bird singing A pretty song.  What we are subjected to is a gazillion birds all singing a bazillion different songs...off key, with the cuckoos doing percussion.

It's loud!

It's spring.  Relax and enjoy the flowers.

As my parting shot to winter (much as I piss and moan about the birds, I'm ready to be shot of winter) I did one more lasagne for Presto Pasta Nights.  Started by the lovely and busy Ruth, of Once Upon a Feast more than a year ago, we continue to get an amazingly delicious and varied collection of pasta each Friday.

I had some fresh spinach in the fridge - and in keeping with the idea of minimum pre-cooking, I used it raw.  I loved how it worked.  It didn't cook down much at all; stayed almost raw.   It was delightful!

Sausage and Spinach  Lasagne

8 - 9 sheets 'no-cook' lasagna noodles
8oz (250gr) sausages, any flavor (mine were pork with herbs)
1 tbs olive oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
15 oz (450 gr) whole tomatoes,
1 cup tomato sauce, 8oz (220 gr)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
6 - 8oz  (200gr) fresh spinach
2 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
1 1/2 cups milk, 12 oz, (375ml)
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese (4 oz, 120 gr)

Meat Sauce:  Finely chop onion and garlic. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes or until tender. Slice sausages as thinly as possible and add to skillet.  Sauté until cooked through.  Drain whole tomatoes and roughly chop.  Add to skillet along with tomato sauce and herbs. Cover, reduce heat and let simmer until needed.
Béchamel sauce:  In a medium saucepan heat the butter over low heat. Add flour and stir with a whisk for 1 minute. Add a little (1/4 cup) of the milk and whisk to combine. Turn heat up to medium and keep adding milk, a little at a time and whisking. You should have added all of the milk in a minute or 2. When all of the milk is in bring to a boil (should almost be there), whisking. Then remove from heat.
Spinach: Remove any tough stems from the spinach and wash.  Drain well.  Cut any huge leaves. 
To assemble: in an square, 9 X 9 (22 X 22cm) or oblong baking dish, 8 X 10, (20 X 25cm) or so...make the following layers:

1/2 béchamel sauce
2 1/2 - 3 lasagne noodles, I have to break one up to get good coverage
1/2 meat sauce
2 1/2 - 3 lasagne noodles
1/2 béchamel sauce
all of the spinach
1/2 of the cheese
2 1/2 - 3 lasagne noodles
1/2 tomato sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Cover and bake 400F (200C) for 20 minutes, or until noodles are done. Test in center with a sharp knife. Uncover and bake 5 minutes longer to brown cheese. Remove and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into squares (or oblongs) and serve.

Now, let's have some spring!

Comments

[Ulrike aka ostwestwind]

You are right, birds in the morning are so noisy!

[Deb]

Oh Katie, could you tape the birds for me? That is one thing I truely miss from living in Ohio. Here we have no birds, no singing birds. Our mornings are silent of bird singing. Once in awhile we will get a flock of birds that use us as a stopover from migrating from south back to north, but it is just a stop over. They stop and party for one night, recoup from hangover and on they go! We have peligans and their poop and hawks that make a little noise every once in awhile. If you get closer to the ocean, the seagulls will strike up if you have a piece of bread or a nice picnic lunch that they will be glad to share with you!
Yes we have garbage trucks every Mon and Thur, but no trains. I too grew up with the train tracks just 1/2 block from our house, never noticed. But I must confess that I did my share of toliet papering the train trussels and dropping various items over the bridge attempting to hit the caboose...ah, those were the days!
OK, enough chatter from me. That lasagna looks absolutely marvelous!
Happy Monday to you too and the lovely photo of your crocus' tells me your spring is on its way!

[Bellini Valli]

Where I grew up it was very close to the 401 highway that continued on to Toronto and we didn't hear a thing..slept very peacefully. For 10 years I lived in the country here in British Columbia...my parents came to visit and were kept awake all night by the coyotes:D of course we did not hear them, and when the coyotes stopped they were kept awake by the silence. I never got used to the pitch black night inside the house I would always bump into things going to the bathroom..wink..wink...
Back to the food...the lasagna makes me want to dive right in:D

[Chris]

Noisy, but a lovely sign spring is around the corner. :) Your lasagne looks perfectly delicious with the spinach and gruyere. Yummmmmmm

[Colleen]

Argh! I had a nice comment all typed but the pc timed out when I submitted. So all I have to say is this: nice first picture, trains are loud, birds are loud but I can't do anything about 'em.

[samantha]

That's quite funny - I grew up near a train track and never heard it, but yet I also wake up at 6am every Monday morning when the noisy garbage truck makes it way down our peaceful little lane!

[katie]

Ulrike, they are so noisy and for so long!

Deb, we never did toilet paper... Pennies, though. Of course we could never find them once they were properly flattened.

Val, it's really dark here at night, too. Great star-gazing, but pitch black!

Chris, everytime I think it's getting close we have another hit of winter...like today!

Colleen, Damn technology! I won't even tell you what you'll face in France.... but everyone in the country has accesss to broadband now! Finally!

Sam, that's us! But those garbage trucks do make a lot of noise... and it's only once a week. The dogs sleep through it though!

[Steamy Kitchen]

My parent live by the railroad tracks and omg. ..when i go visit them I can't sleep at all! the trains pass through all night long, whistling too! but they don't even hear it anymore.

[neil]

All your bird talk reminded me of a very funny couple of scenes in the movie Failure To Launch, where a mockingbird is driving one girl crazy and the lengths she went to get rid of it, very funny. Your lasagne sounds rib sticking good.

[Ashley]

I can relate to your aggravation with the birds "singing". There used to be a family of birds or something outside my window every morning going crazy with their chirping and singing. I'm really glad they've gone somewhere else now...

[Jenifier Lee]

Nice flower....

[Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)]

I've just started to see the birds back here, too, but no crocus yet. I go back and forth to Boston a lot, and notice the difference in noise level as soon as I get to the city. Now I wonder how I could have lived there for 30 years...

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Gosh, I wish I could come for dinner! I love the spinach all ways.
We do have birds. We feed them and they love our backyard fountain. Still we must not have as many as you do because I do enjoy them. Maybe's it's we have no cuckoos!

[Lisa]

The birds are coming! The birds are coming! I really love that sign of spring.

Your lasagne looks divine. I love bechamel in lasagne. Like the idea of not cooking the spinach, too.

[joey]

We there is a building being built behind ours...I'll trade the jackhammering for some birds :)

Love the sound of that lasagna!

[Jeanne]

Love your description of how the birds disturb the peace!! When I was a student back home in South Africa, I often used to come home really, really late after parties and try to get to sleep at around 4 a.m. (before my parents woke up and realised what time I got ome!!). In summer, the dawn chorus starts at abotu 04h30 and the birds around our house (which was in the middle of a nature reserve) used to drive me insane, so I can relate to your story!

The sausage and spinach lasagna sounds heavenly - I must try it before the weather warms up.

[katie]

Jaden, I'm just amazed that I STILL don't hear them... but, if the wind id just right I can hear one very faintly here...

Neil, we have mockingbirds here, too.... Thanks, - it stuck to my ribs (and thighs)

Ashley, it's only pretty when one actually wants to and is ready to wake up!

Thanks, Jennifer

Lydia, I don't know if I could live in a city.. But I never have so it would be fun to try...

Tanna, I feed ours, too. And if I forget they are outside my window screeching at me! I know where Alfred Hitchcocl got his inspiration!

Lisa, ironically, our robin disappears at spring... and arrives just in time for Christmas. It's the cuckoos that come now!

Joey, I live through jack hammering in Andorra. Not fun!

Jeanne, ah yes, the sneaking in and sleeping fast... I remember it well!

[tigerfish]

Sausage and spinach!!! The exact two ingredients I had in my omelette sometime ago.

[katie]

Tigerfish, a perfect omelet...maybe with a little goat cheese.... hmmm? Just a little?

[Cymry]

Your crocuses are gorgeous! Still waiting for them to pop up here..any day now!

[Kevin]

That lasagna looks tasty. I like the use of the spinach and sausage.

[Ruth]

Katie, I always love your posts. This one reminds me of growing up in the suburbs of Montreal...on the landing path to the international airport. We'd also pause when planes were overhead and then continue with the conversation, never even realizing the process. Our guests on the other hand...well, you know.

In Toronto, our back yard was filled with a birds in the early evening every Fall. The cacophony was not pleasant. In fact, it always reminded me of Hitchcock's The Birds. So much for quiet, relaxing dinners in the garden.

And your lasagna, my dear...one word...awesome! Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.

[katie]

Ruth, it really is amazing what you can get used to - and ignore!
Our morning wake-up call reminds me of The Birds, too!

[Mike]

I grew up with the birds...I think I'm deaf to them. But a train, that would drive me crazy! The lasagna looks delicious--bechamel and gruyere, yum!

[ejm]

I forgot that you put gruyere into lasagne. I've GOT to remember to try this!

Yes please to both this lasagne and to spring.

-Elizabeth

P.S. Today was almost springlike - sunny and ABOVE freezing!! Yay. Some of the snow actually melted.