For me, comfort food = italian food. I grew up eating my Italian grandmother’s pasta and meatballs etc. So yummy. Ditching pasta was one of the hardest things I did when I went Paleo. Now I never even crave it. Zucchini makes an excellent substitute for pasta and I used that and eggplant to make a delicious and filling lasagna. This version was modified from another Crossfit/Paleo blogger’s recipe – from Jen’s Gone Paleo blog. I tend to stay away from dairy except a wee bit in my Americano each day, but wanted to use some in this recipe to make it more indulgent. I used 100% organic Goat’s Milk Cheese, which is permissable under the primal diet. You don’t need much and a little goes a long way for adding flavour. For more on dairy and the primal diet, check out Mark’s Daily Apple post on the definitive guide to dairy.
Ingredients (serves 4-6)
– 3 large zucchini – ends removed, cut lengthwise into thin slices (1/4 inch thick)
– 1 eggplant – ends removed, cut same as zucchini
– 1 red pepper – quartered, core/seeds removed
– 4 C sliced mushrooms (i used button)
– 2 C cooked spinach (i used frozen organic)
– 1 onion – sliced thinly
– 2 Tbsp minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
– 1 small can of Tomato Paste
– 2 x 14 oz cans of cherry tomatoes (I like Mara’s because they don’t have other stuff in them)
– 1/2 T dried oregano
– 1 small handful of fresh basil leaves – chopped
– salt and pepper to taste
– 3 Tbsp olive oil
– 100g organic goat’s milk cheese
Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 350
- Drizzle 2 Tbsp of the olive oil over the zucchini, red pepper and eggplant slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Rub it around to coat all pieces.
- Grill the veggies – You have 2 choices here: You can either roast them (400 degree oven for ~30 min) or grill them on the BBQ. I had Semi-Primal Husband grill them on the BBQ because i love them this way.
- While the veggies are grilling/roasting, start on the sauce. In a small saucepan, put 1/2 of 1 can of cherry tomatoes and 1 Tbsp of tomato paste. Let it heat up and leave it on low heat. Set aside as this is for the top layer of the lasagna.
- For the filling sauce: In a larger saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Add onion and garlic. Saute for about 2-3 min.
- Add the mushrooms. Saute another 2 min. Add the spinach. Let it cook until the mushrooms have softened.
- Add the rest of the cherry tomatoes (1 1/2 can), tomato paste and oregano.
- In a casserole dish, put a thin layer of the filling sauce on the bottom. Lay 1/2 of the zucchini strips flat – like you would with lasagna pasta.
- Put 1/2 of the filling sauce on top of the zucchini. Layer the eggplant on top and the red pepper.
- Put the remainder of the filling sauce on top. Crumble the goat’s milk cheese on top of the sauce.
- Put the remaining zucchini on top and top it off with other tomato sauce you had put aside. Sprinkle with the fresh basil.
- Bake at 350 for 1 hour.
- Enjoy!
This freezes well too. My Semi-Primal Husband provided the following testimonial, “This is a winner. This recipe and the cabbage rolls are my new favourites.”
February 24, 2010 at 8:13 pm
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February 25, 2010 at 3:21 am
I make veg Lasagna too, is a winner always..
March 1, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Hey, looks tasty. I already printed out a copy to make for dinner one of these days. And now, since I’m new to your site, I think I will peruse a little!
March 2, 2010 at 1:23 am
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March 17, 2010 at 5:11 pm
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February 12, 2011 at 10:09 pm
I just stumbled upon your site – and how timely – I’ve been looking for paleo recipes that I can cook up on Sunday and stick in the freezer. I hate eating the SAME meal every lunch and dinner for a week (and sometimes breakfast!) thanks!
March 27, 2011 at 9:03 pm
I’ve made this recipe twice so far. The BF is 100% primal and I’m only semi primal and this is one we can agree on…
Thanks for this recipe!