Seeing that Lent runs for more than six weeks -- and that your average landlubber can eat only so much fried fish -- observant Christians have to get creative if they're to remain happily meatless on Fridays (or the entire Lenten season, if you're a member of an Eastern Orthodox church).

		Send us your Lent recipes Do you have an especially tasty or unusual Lenten recipe you can share? E-mail it to gmckay@post-gazette.com, or mail it to Food at the Post-Gazette, 34 Blvd. of the Allies, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. We'll print the best and share it with other readers throughout Lent.

But not to worry: We did the culinary legwork for you. Actually, fellow readers did.

Last week, the PG put the call out to readers to dish up their favorite no-meat Lenten recipes. Following are the first of the responses.

UNCLE TIM'S POTATO SOUP

For at least the past five years, Tim Meszar and his wife, Barbara, of Harrison City have made this fragrant potato soup for the lenten fish fry at St. Agnes Catholic Church in North Huntingdon. But Tim honed the recipe, which is doctored up with pepper and diced leek, many years earlier.

His son, Tim Jr., remembers eating it as a child along with his brother, Scott, and it was also a much-requested dish at his father's Steelers tailgate parties, with one slight addition: a sprinkling of crushed bacon on top (verboten during Lent's meatless Fridays).

Cooking was a hobby, but it was one Tim Sr. dove into headfirst, his family recalls. "He was an excellent cook," says his son.

This year, memories of Uncle Tim's Potato Soup will be bittersweet: Tim Sr. died suddenly of a heart attack on Sunday, at age 59.

• 5 pounds russet potatoes
  
• 1 cup diced yellow onion (can include 2 diced green onions)
  
• 1/2 cup diced leek (white and green portions)
  
• 5 to 7 bouillon cubes (vegetable- or chicken-flavored)
  
• 1 teaspoon pepper
  
• 1/4 cup butter
  
• 1/4 cup flour
  
• 1 cup whipping cream
  
• Water

Peel and dice potatoes. Place in a pot with lemon water (this keeps potatoes from turning brown). Drain and rinse potatoes. Place in soup pot and add enough water to just cover.

Add onions, leek and bouillon. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are soft. Add pepper.

Place butter and flour in a frying pan. Stir and cook over medium heat until blended, to make roux. When thick, add whipping cream. Continue to stir until blended. Take two soup ladles of potatoes from the pot and add them to a blender. Pour the roux into the blender and puree. Add the mixture back into the pot.

Stir until blended. If soup is too thick, add more cream or water. After Lent, you can also add some crushed bacon.

CATHOLIC SPAGHETTI

One of Carol Janesko's favorite Lenten dishes is this quick and easy recipe created by her mother, Anna Kollar Sobota.

"She called it 'Catholic Spaghetti' because it contained no meat," Ms. Janesko notes in an e-mail. "Since my father did not eat fish, it was one of the main dishes she served on Fridays during Lent."

A perennial favorite, it's been passed on through the generations and today is part of a family cookbook that Ms. Janesko's niece, Melissa, developed as a gift to all of her cousins.

• 1 onion, chopped
  
• 1 large green pepper, chopped
  
• Oil for cooking
  
• 1/2 pound whole egg noodles, medium width
  
• 1 quart canned whole tomatoes
  
• 2-3 scallions, chopped
  
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Saute onions and pepper in oil until lightly browned. Cook noodles as directed on the package and drain well. Add tomatoes, undrained, to noodles. Stir in onions and peppers and scallions. Add cheese and stir well. Season with salt and pepper.

Red pepper seeds and/or 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce may be added for a spicy entree.

Serve with a tossed salad and garlic bread.

Serves 6.

DOTTI'S CHEDDAR SHELL CASSEROLE

Dotti Ward of Baldwin started making this cheesy Lenten casserole more than 30 years ago, when the six children in her blended family were little. Having had to suffer her share of Lenten culinary nightmares as a child -- her mother's recipe for boiled navy beans over bread instantly comes to mind -- her main goal was to create something that would be good tasting.

Knowing that everyone loved pasta and cheese, she combined the two and served it to her family.

Dotti makes it to this day during Lent, despite the fact that she's now a Presbyterian. "I grew up Catholic, and so I still have a lot of Catholic habits."

• 1-pound box medium shell macaroni
  
• 1 clove garlic, minced and sauteed in olive oil
  
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
  
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  
• 1 10-ounce block Kraft Cracker Barrel Cheddar Cheese, shredded
  
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain well. Mix diced tomatoes with sauteed garlic and oregano. Add cooked macaroni and toss.

In a 2-quart casserole dish, layer 1/2 of macaroni and 1/2 of shredded cheddar. Repeat. Top with shredded mozzarella. Bake 20-30 minutes 350 degree oven until bubbly.

Serves 8-10.

FRESCA TUNA

"My mother made this dish over 40 years ago," said Marjorie Ditmore of Ross. "Then I made it for my six kids, who loved it, and it was something they would all eat. I have 17 grandchildren, and they like it too. This is a good, inexpensive dish."

• 1/4 pound medium egg noodles (2 cups)
  
• 1 medium minced onion
  
• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 29-ounce can diced tomatoes (2 1/2 cups)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
  
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  
• 1/4 cup snipped parsley
  
• 1 6-ounce can chunk tuna (1 cup)
  
• 1/2 pound American cheese slices

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook noodles as label directs, adding minced onion. Drain. Add butter. Combine tomatoes, salts, pepper and parsley in a small bowl. Set aside. Spread 1 cup of the noodles in an 8-by-8-by-2-inch baking dish. Spread 1/2 cup of tuna over the noodles, then half of the cheese slices. Pour half of the tomato mixture over the cheese. Repeat. Bake uncovered about 40 minutes.

Serves 4.