Gluten Free No-Boil Lasagna

I am a huge fan of cooking once, eating two nights in a row. Lasagna is definitely one of my favorites- not exactly simple, but well worth it.

When I first found out I had Celiac Disease, giving up pasta was the hardest part for me. I love pasta in all shapes and sizes and my new diet had me depressed. Naturally, I quickly learned how to replicate most recipes I loved. One thing that gave me a hard time was making lasagna. All noodles I was able to find required pre-boiling, which took a crazy amount of time and never really worked out the way I wanted (picture me trying to separate big lumps of pasta that formed because I was too lazy to cook the noodles separately; it was not pretty…)

And then, one fine day, I stumbled upon a gluten free no-boil lasagna noodle. I was so happy! However, knowing that gluten free noodles don’t act the same as their wheaty counterparts, I had to find a recipe that was relatively simple and delicious. I think I was able to do just that by experimenting.

You do not have to make this recipe gluten free- it works just as well with semolina pasta. I sometimes make it as a meat lasagna and sometimes a veggie one, depending on my mood and what’s available. I will mostly be referencing the meat in this recipe- just replace it with whatever veggies you prefer. I’ve tried making gluten free béchamel sauce, which I will post the recipe for in the near future, but I also like this simpler method of adding creaminess to the dish.

The ingredients:

1 box of no boil lasagna noodles (I used the De Boles brand ones)

1 lb ground beef and/or veggies of your choice (I like zucchini, bell pepper, mushrooms, and tomatoes)

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ an onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1 1/2 – 2 jars of pasta sauce of your choice, depending on how saucy you like it

½ cup water

1 15oz container of ricotta

2-3 cups of shredded Italian cheese blend

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

1 egg

Salt & pepper (and any other herbs you like) to taste

The instructions:

·         Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C)

·         In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat

·         When hot, add the onion and garlic until they soften

·         Add the meat and brown thoroughly (or add veggies and sauté), adding salt and pepper to taste (in the lasagna I took the pictures of, I used meat and mushrooms- delish!)

·         Drain any excess fat, then add pasta sauce and water; let simmer

·         In a bowl, combine ricotta, egg, 1 cup of the Italian cheese and parmesan; if the mixture seems too thick to spread, add a little of the sauce and stir it in

·         Take the sauce off the heat; in a 13x9x2 dish, spread ¼ of the sauce

·         Make one noodle layer with the uncooked noodles ( I usually do three next to each other- they expand when they cook)

·         Spread ½ of the ricotta mixture onto the pasta

·         Add ¼ of the sauce

·         Make another noodle layer

·         Spread the remainder of the ricotta mixture

·         Add ¼ of the sauce

·         Make the final pasta layer

·         Add the remaining sauce; be sure to cover all of the pasta so that it cooks evenly

·         Top with 1 – 2 cups of Italian cheese, depending on how cheesy you like it (I like it very cheesy)

·         Cover the dish with aluminum foil and cook for 50 minutes

·         Remove the foil; turn on the broiler and cook until cheese is golden brown

I hope you enjoy! Please excuse my terrible attempts at taking nice pictures of the food- I still have lots to learn…