Vegetable Lasagna

I spend a lot of time thinking about food...not sure that is a good thing, maybe that is why I got to the place where I am now, desperately needing to lose weight for my health. Food is just something I tend to always have bouncing around in my head however now that I am on PINK, instead of thinking about bad food, I have shifted to thinking about good foods and how I can prepare them in new and exciting ways. Well this is one of those foods I had bouncing around in my brain.

It all started when I made this Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce. Prior to PINK, I had made a fabulous lasagna using a jarred butternut squash sauce, ricotta cheese, mozzerella cheese and of course pasta. It was great but totally off limits with my new healthy eating plan. I wondered if I could somehow recreate the dish without cheese and it just popped into my head, "What if I used pureed cauliflower instead of the ricotta, it sort of has the texture of a creamy ricotta." I knew I was on to something and I had to try it out. The results were great.

Vegetable Lasagna (makes enough for 2 servings)
1/2 cup roasted butternut squash pasta sauce (could sub marinara sauce also)
2 small zucchinis sliced lengthwise
3/4 cup cauliflower puree
1 cup chopped spinach
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1 egg (I used to in the pictures and had way more puree than I needed)
Italian seasoning
Salt
Pepper

Method

 Start by cutting up and steaming your cauliflower (if you have left over puree, use that instead)

Puree your cauliflower in a blender or food processor

Add in your desired amount of salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to the cauliflower puree

Note, I made way to much cauliflower puree than is needed, only use one egg or you will have a runny mess with tons left over

Let the cauliflower cool slightly then add in your egg to the ricotta and stir to combine. Make sure your cauliflower isn't to hot or else you will end up with scrambled eggs, you don't want that. The egg will act as your binder and help to hold the dish together.

While the cauliflower is cooling, prepare your spinach and mushroom filling.

Saute your spinach, mushrooms and onions in a mist of olive oil. It will cook rather quickly, you just want the spinach to wilt slightly and the mushrooms and onions to soften.

Thinly slice your zucchinis lengthwise, these will take the place of the traditional pasta.

Assembly


You will assemble just as you would a normal lasagna, just in case you haven't made one before, I'll walk you through it and give you some alternatives.

Begin by spreading some of your butternut squash pasta sauce (or marinara) on the bottom of you pan. I used to individual size spring-form pans but use what you have, a loaf pan would work great also.

Layer your thinly sliced zucchini on top of your sauce

Spread your cauliflower mash on top of your zucchini

I totally forgot to take this picture, use your imagination to sprinkle some of you spinach mushroom filling on top of the cauliflower (you could also use lean ground turkey or beef as a filling, especially if you are using marinara, this would make for a more traditional lasagna)

Top with more pasta sauce and repeat your layers over and over until your pan is full making sure to top everything with a little more sauce.

Bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes

Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes before serving. This helps to keep your lasagna from being to runny.

Enjoy.

Note: I am putting this under primary recipes because I believe the squash sauce would be considered a carb however if you were to sub marinara sauce for the squash sauce, I believe it would be reset friendly. I also considered the egg in the cauliflower mash my protein but since it was split between two servings, I really should have added more protein to this meal.

Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

Eating healthy doesn't have to mean boring bland food...quite the contrary. I got my creative juices flowing yesterday in the kitchen and boy was I pleased with the results. I set out to recreate a butternut squash pasta sauce I used to buy at Costco, the results were fantastic and oh so easy to make. Serve it on top of some Zucchini noodles made using the Saladacco along with some grilled chicken and you are set with an easy peasy, gourmet dinner or put in a little more effort and make a vegetable lasagna like I did. Yep, a deliciously amazing vegetable lasagna, I will share how tomorrow.

Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce
1.5 lbs of butternut squash
4 cloves of garlic
Sea Salt
Pepper
Mrs. Dash original
Olive oil
Almond Milk (I ended up using about a cup, you may use more or less depending on how thick you want your sauce)

Method

Peel the butternut squash and remove the seeds (just a note, you can buy peeled and seeded butternut squash at the grocery store if you want to skip this step)

Cut the squash into bite size pieces.

Spread the squash out on a cookie sheet along with your garlic and mist with a little bit of olive oil. Sprinkle a little salt, pepper and Mrs. Dash on top of your squash.

Roast at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until it gets soft. Cooking time will vary depending on how large your squash is cut.

Remove the roasted squash from the oven and transfer the squash to your blender.

Start by adding 1/4 cup of almond milk to your squash and start pureeing. Add in more milk as needed until you have reached the consistency that you desire.

Serve over zucchini noodles or make this yummy vegetable lasagna once I get the recipe posted! How is that for a tease?

By the way, my kids love this sauce, I serve theirs over cheese ravioli's and they are happy as clams. Because of the color, they think it is cheese sauce and I just keep my mouth shut. It is my little secret that I just shared with you all.

Enjoy!