'The Help' Recipe Competition Winner Announced!

Last month, cooks across the country sent us their treasured family recipes with the hopes of winning our contest's grand prize: tickets to the premiere of The Help. Each recipe was also accompanied by a story that revealed why a particular dish held a special place in the contestant's heart.

Our guest judge, Evan Kleiman, of KCRW's Good Food, said that as she tasted the five finalists' dishes, and listened to their respective stories, there was "one tale that stood out."

We are happy to announce that the winning dish is Nanny Rebecca's Goat Cheese Lasagna, sent in by Rebecca Nelson Lubin of Mill Valley, California. Here is her story: 

I first made this recipe for the family I currently nanny for (I've been with them for six years!) as a gluten-free dish for the nursing mommy whose baby boy had a severe case of colic. I wanted my employer to have a hearty, delicious meal that would not affect her baby's fragile tummy, and this dish has become a household staple. As that baby boy grew (he is now four), he and I began to cook it together. Now one of our favorite things to do together is cook. But this dish has a deeper meaning.

My first nanny family lost their dad three years ago. The little girl I raised, who is now 17 and in boarding school, has had me come to every parents' weekend to represent as her family. Every time we see each other, we cook my Goat Cheese Lasagna, and we talk about her dad and my hand in raising her. I tell her all the stories I can remember of her and her dad together. It has become the most nourishing meal I've ever made.

If I win this, I would bring my 17-year-old Sierra with me to the premiere so together we could watch this wonderful movie about the women who help raise you, and the children who will never forget you. The book 'The Help' really resonated with me, as I have spent my adult life raising wonderful children whom I did not give birth to, but who consider me just like their Mom.

After reading Rebecca's story, Evan Kleiman said what stood out to her was "the idea that not just our mothers create our most formative memories, but caregivers of all kinds create so many moments that build the way we view life (and food)."

If you're in need of a delicious and comforting meal, here is Rebecca's special lasagna.

Recipe:

Nanny Rebecca's Goat Cheese Lasagna

Ingredients:
•    1/4 cup olive oil
•    1 onion
•    1 yellow pepper
•    1 orange pepper
•    1 cup shiitake mushrooms
•    1 package organic spinach leaves
•    3 cloves garlic
•    1 pound ground grass fed lamb
•    1 pound Monterey Jack goat cheese
•    1 pound goat gouda cheese
•    1 bunch asparagus
•    4 cans organic stewed tomatoes
•    1 package organic lasagna "noodles"
•    1 bunch of parsley
•    Pepper
•    Granulated garlic
•    Salt to taste

Directions:

Finely chop the onions, peppers, parsley and mushrooms. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep pan (I actually use a huge wok). Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the peppers, then the mushrooms, and cook until the mushrooms are "browned." Add the ground lamb and stir everything evenly. Next, pour the cans of stewed tomatoes into the pan, and then add the spinach leaves and pressed garlic cloves. Stir together, set heat on simmer and let it cook!

Grate both cheeses in separate bowls and set aside. Cut asparagus into 3-inch slices and place in a bowl of warm water. Ladle sauce to cover the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish. Lay a row of lasagna noodles over the sauce, then add a layer of Monterey Jack cheese. Cover the cheese with a neat row of all of the asparagus slices, and then sprinkle with the parsley. Lay down another row of noodles, cover with sauce, and then add another layer of noodles. Spread the Gouda cheese over this layer of noodles and sprinkle with the parsley. Lay down the final row of noodles and cover with the rest of the sauce. Sprinkle the top with the pepper, dash of salt and granulated garlic. Cook for 1 hour at 375 degrees and then eat it up!

(Note: If you want a gluten-free option, choose gluten-free noodles such as DeBoles.)

From DreamWorks Pictures and Reliance Entertainment, in association with Participant Media and Imagenation Abu Dhabi, comes the drama 'The Help.' Participant Media is TakePart's parent company.