You guys. Matt is super humble in this post. It is so legit amazing that I went and looked up other adjectives in an effort to express my thoughts on the matter. Seriously, I almost cried eating this lasagna. It brought back memories of family meals around my grandmother’s table. I have NO idea how that could be accomplished when every single component of the original is something I no longer consume. But, seriously. MAKE THIS. Try these products if you have the opportunity. This meal blew my mind. – Stacy
Back in 2010 when we first started experimenting with switching the family to a paleo diet, the grocery store shelves looked pretty bleak. Even gluten-free or dairy-free options were pretty sparse and the ones that were there weren’t exactly “health foods”. But man, I’m telling you, It’s Going to Be the Future Soon! Thanks to the home chefs turned artisan craftsman and mad scientists that make crazy awesome products and innovative recipes, there’s seemingly nothing I can’t cook today! Frankly, I’m going mad with power.
Still, there are some challenges that come along that are seemingly impossible. As followers of this blog are aware, Stacy does not eat any nightshades. That means no tomatoes and no peppers. Her grandfather was Hungarian, paprika is their national spice. Her grandmother, Italian. She’s had to give up a lot of the foods she grew up eating and loving; foods that have memories associated with them.
Although we rarely bother with trying to recreate foods much anymore, since we have a routine of foods we now love instead, sometimes the desire strikes to recreate old favorites – like those pasta and tomato dishes Stacy grew up loving. Now while Real Life Paleo does, in fact, have two recipes for vegetable noodle lasagna, both include tomato sauce and one a spicy sausage, so Stacy didn’t actually consume either. Which is why when she requested lasagna this weekend we realized it would be the first time she’d eaten it in years.
And you can call me Impossible Man, because I made it happen.
How did Spider-Man know? Because I proved it!
OK, I admit it. I didn’t so much make up this impossible recipe as I found 3 fantastic things already invented and brought them together. This recipes features 3 components that I did not make. They are as follows:
- Cappello’s Lasagna Sheets: These noodles are made with almond flour and frozen fresh. They’re really quite delicious and much more pasta-like in texture and flavor than, say, corn pasta or quinoa pasta.
- Kite Hill Almond Cheese: Some how, they squeeze the almond meat and turn it into cheese. I don’t know what alchemy does it, but the ricotta tasted and acted just like milk ricotta. Stacy’s mom had NO IDEA it wasn’t real diary!
- Urban Poser’s Tomato-less Marinara Sauce: Not only is this recipe nightshade-free, but it’s quite clearly a marinara sauce in flavor. Even Stacy’s mom, who is famously opposed to beets, approved of this recipe!
So how did I do it? Here’s how!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 C Urban Poser's Tomato-less Marinara Sauce
- 1 6oz package of Capello's Lasagna Sheets, unfrozen
- 2 C Kite Hill Almond Ricotta
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 lbs ground pork or beef
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together all ingredients for the cheese until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, incorporate spices into ground meat with hands.
- Brown meat in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, about 7 minutes. Drain excess fat.
- In a 8x8 inch baking dish, spread a thin layer of sauce.
- Cover the sauce with lasagna sheets. One sheet cut in half should be enough.
- Sprinkle about 1/4 of the cheese on top of the noodles, then 1/4 of the meat, and 1/4 C of sauce.
- Rotate the dish 90 degrees and repeat the layering of the previous step. Continue to rotate and layer until ingredients are used up, finishing with the sauce.
- Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes and serve!
Hope this Mission: Impossible inspires you to seek out what you can create with the tools that are now readily available to all paleo cooks!
