Corn and Poblano Lasagna

Original recipe by Marcela Valladolid from www.foodnetwork.com

4 tbsps. unsalted butter, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced and divided
2 ears of corn (or 2 cups frozen and thawed)
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp fresh thyme
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
4 poblano chiles
1 large zucchini
12 no-boil lasagna strips
2 cups shredded Oaxaca cheese, or mozzarella

Place the fresh corn cobs over a clean kitchen cloth so that the kernels don't bounce all over the place. Cut the kernels off the corn.  Set aside.

Melt tbsps. of butter in a large heavy pan.  Saute 2/3 the minced garlic for 1 minute.

Add the corn to the garlic, saute for 5 minutes.

Stir in the cream

and fresh thyme.  Simmer for 5 minutes, remove from heat and let cool slightly.

While the corn mixture is cooling, I charred the poblano chilis then transferred them to a gallon size baggie to steam and soften.

Transfer the cooled sauce into a blender and puree until smooth.

Remove the softened chilis from the plastic bag.  After I removed the skin from the outside of the chilis, I cut open the chili, cut off the stem and removed the veins and seeds.

Cut the chilis into long slices

Cut the zucchini into thin slices and same length as the chilis. 

Melt 2 tbsps. butter in skillet, add the sliced onions and saute until they're translucent but not carmelized.

Add the sliced chilis and zucchinis, saute until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add salt and pepper and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.  From left to right, I placed the lasagna noodles, corn sauce mixture, cooked vegies, and the mozzarella cheese.  Makes it easier to put together.

Start by adding enough sauce to cover the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.

Add the noodles next to fill the bottom

Next add 1/3 of the vegie mixture, spread out evenly

Top with the cheese.

Repeat two more times spreading the sauce over the noodles first.

Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes.

Remove foil, turn on the broiler.  Broil until brown and bubbly (watch closely and never walk away while broiling)

Let stand for about 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

If you're lactose intolerant, this dish is not for you (this contains butter, heavy cream and mozzarella cheese).  I couldn't wait to taste the corn sauce.  It definitely tasted corny, haha, corny, get it?  Seriously, though I could taste the corn and it just so happened to be sweet because I know I didn't add sugar.  It was good but seemed like something was missing.  Probably the heat that I usually like with Mexican dishes.  If you don't like chili heat, you don't have to worry about Poblanos, they have no heat.  Hubby and my MIL seemed to have enjoyed it and even asked for seconds.  I'm taking some for lunch tomorrow and I'm a firm believer that sometimes all a dish needs to make it taste better is to let it set for another 24 hours so that all the flavors "marry".  I'm really looking forward to lunch tomorrow :)

I had a busy weekend, worked the Football Spring Game yesterday, where I work.  That wore me out but I was still able prepare the sauce and vegies for this dish only because I knew I was going to be busy again today.  Mainly because I watched my beautiful grand-daughter for a couple of hours.  It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time together.  Her smile melts my heart.

And that's why I can say, I savored the weekend and relished every moment.