Guilt-Free Friday: Grain-Free Lasagna

Another one of my very own creations.  I couldn't stop eating this, it was soooooooo good.  I'm pretty excited about it!  I was craving lasagna one day last week and had an "I-kinda-miss-pasta" moment... But not for long! No, sir, if I can make a pizza crust out of cauliflower, I can certainly find a way to replace lasagna noodles!

And replace them I did.

I recalled some recipes I had run across in the past that called for thinly sliced zucchini in place of the noodles, and decided I'd run with that.  Someday I'd like to experiment with making substitutes for cheeses, but for now... Well, baby steps. That's the only dairy I have left in my life, so I think I've made some good progress! And let me tell you, Harlee had some mild eczema on the backs of his knees, and since we've significantly cut back on dairy at home it's been clearing up... Interesting...

Anyway. Lasagna. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  Here's what you need:

1 medium zucchini, sliced thin length-wise

1lb ground meat of choice (preferably grass-fed!!)

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed

1 12oz can tomato sauce

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1 egg, beaten

Extra Parmesan/mozzarella cheese for topping

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Place the thinly sliced zucchini on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet in a single layer (you'll probably need two sheets) and place them in the oven.  Bake for about 10 minutes.  This removes a lot of the moisture from them and makes them more like an al dente lasagna noodle.  Mmmmm...

While those are baking, start browning your beef in a skillet over medium heat.  Add in the onion, garlic, and Italian seasoning half-way through cooking.  Add in the tomato sauce and combine thoroughly.

Combine the three cheeses and the egg.

Turn the oven down to 350 degrees when the zucchini is done.  In a greased 8x8 baking dish, put down a layer of zucchini.  Spread some of the cheese mixture over the zucchini slices.  Top that with some of the beef mixture.  Follow with another layer of zucchini, then cheese, then beef.  Zucchini, cheese, beef.  Then top the whole thing with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.  Place in the oven, maybe with a baking sheet underneath (mine was bursting at the seams and bubbled over while baking).  Bake for about 15-20 minutes.

Let cool, serve, and enjoy!

You may want to experiment with different fillings, like a veggie lasagna with whatever vegetables you can chop and sauté and stuff in there, or chicken with a white sauce, or seafood with a white sauce, or eggplant instead of zucchini (that would give it a different texture and taste though, but still good I'm sure!).  Lots of ideas! I was very pleased with the zucchini though.  It felt like biting into a lasagna noodle, and really didn't offer much taste that threw me off, so I definitely satisfied my lasagna craving with this one! Yay!

Happy cooking!