Lasagna

Family Favourites

Yes it is possible to make a delicious dairy free, gluten free lasagna. We compensate for the absence of the cheese, by packing this pasta dish with loads of largely invisible veggies. The cashew milk and eggplant provide a satisfying and delicious richness that more than makes up for the absence of the cheese.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of cashew milk
• 1/2 tsp of dijon mustard
• 4 large tbls of olive oil or ghee or cocnut oil a combination of them.
• 2 large tbls of gluten free flour (brown rice flour will do).
• 1 tsp of Better than Bouillon or similar concentrated broth
• 1/3 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp of nutmeg
• 1 large Onion
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 medium zucchinis
• 8+ large crimini mushrooms
• 1lb of ground beef
• 1lb of ground lamb (or just 2lb of ground beef if you prefer)
• 2 tps of dried thyme
• 2 tsp of dried parsley
• 2 tsp of dried marjoram or oregano
• 2tsp of dried tarragon
• 2 tsp of dried coriander
• 2tsp of better than bouillon or similar concentrated stock
• 3 tsp of agave syrup
• 1 tsp of dijon mustard
• 2 cups of rich tomato sauce (a 15oz can will work fine)
• 12-16 sheets of fresh gluten free lasagna pasta
• 2 large eggplants
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 2 cookie sheets
• 1 large oven safe dish 16 x 13" apx
• Lage cast iron skillet,
• Small sauce pan
• Whisk (hand held manual wire egg whisk if fine)
• Wooden spoon.

Steps:

1. Finely chop the onion and then sautee on a low heat until mostly translucent.
2. Finely chop or liquidize all remaining veggies and add them to the onions.
3. Cook for another 5 - 10 mins
4. Remove the cooked veggies & onions from the heat and set aside.
5. In the same pan sautee the ground meat and spices on a medium high heat. The objective is to get it nicely browned.
6. Once the meat is mostly browned add the veggies and onion back,
7. Then add the better than bouillon, dijon, agave and tomato sauce
8. Cover and cook on a low heat for another 10 - 15 mins.
9. Pre-heat oven to 400F
10. Thinly slice the eggplants to make large oval slices. (try the best you can to make the slices of consistent thickness)
11. Oil two cookie sheets and arrange the slices of eggplant on them so that they do not overlap.
12. Lightly salt, and drizzle another 1/4 cup of oil over the two sheets of eggplant. (eggplant soaks up a lot of oil).
13. Put in the oven for about 10 mins. Watching carefully to make sure they don't burn.
14. Remove from the oven when translucent / golden brown.
15. On a medium / low heat melt / warm 4 large tbls of olive oil or ghee or coconut oil (or a combination of them two or even three of these).
16. Once the oil is hot but not bubbling too much - add the two tablespoons of gluten free flour and stir with a wooden spoon until fully incorporated.
17. Then watching over the pan to make sure it doesn't burn, and stirring occasionally allow it to bubble very gently for another 3 or 4 mins apx.
18. Next take a egg whisk and begin to pour the cashew milk into the flour / oil mixture. The mixture will immediately coagulate and go lumpy, This is OK.
19. Keep pouring and whisking vigorously, until all of the milk is incorporated. At this stage the bechamel should be a warm white custard looking mixture.
20. Add the dijon, better than bouillon, nutmeg and salt, stir well and then remove from the heat.
21. Into a large oven proof dish, layer the meet, eggplant, pasta leaves and then the bechamel.
22. Repeat these layers until you have run out of space.
23. The last, top layer should be the bechamel.
24. Place into the oven (still at 400F)
25. And allow to cook for 15 - 25 mins. The fresh pasta wont take more than a few minutes to cook and the other ingredients are already cooked, so you can get away with cooking for only 15 - 20 mins. However traditionally one might bake a lasagna for 30 mins or longer, to caramelize further and allow the flavors to meld.