Can it be? A lasagna with no grains and no cheese??? This is a paleo lasagna with eggplant for noodles and cashew “cheese” and it is amazing! My hubby went on and on about how good it was ….so it had to be because he’s quite honest with me when something is ‘ok’ or so-so! We absolutely loved this lasagna the night of but I’m not gonna lie….it was even better the next day! I suppose that’s similar with spaghetti, so they say.
I’ve been wanting to make cashew cheese for quite a while now but just kept putting it off. I don’t know why though….it was super easy and so versatile! I’ve used it a few times in different recipes this week. I kept tasting it, trying to decide if I liked it or not – and Peter (my husband) said, “Well, it does have a cheese-like flavor but not sure it’s good, if ya know what I mean.” And I did. I was afraid to put it in the recipe because what if it ruined all that I had done??? It hardly ruined anything! It just really added a creamy like texture that melted cheese would bring to a dish and taste wasn’t too bold….just enough to feel as if there was cheese in this lasagna!
Hmmmm….I guess I should write a post/recipe on the “cheese” itself to be used in other dishes! 🙂
Anyway, if you’ve been wanting lasagna but haven’t given into having some, give this recipe a try!
- 2 large eggplants
- 1/2 lb spicy italian sausage
- 1 lb ground beef
- 3/4 cup cashew cheese**
- 6 cups spinach (2 1/2 cups, cooked)
- 1 8-oz package sliced mini portobello mushrooms
- 1 14-oz can roasted diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 6-oz can tomato paste
- 1 8--oz can tomato sauce
- 2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp italian seasonings
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- **Cashew Cheese (RECIPES tab - under SIDES/sauces & dips)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Cook up your sausage & ground beef (season with salt & pepper)
- While your meat is cooking up, slice your eggplant lengthwise in thin slices - about 1/4 inch in size (leave the skin on if preferred.....I peeled my eggplant first)
- Place sliced eggplant on cooking sheet -- brush each side with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in oven for 10-15 min ...just enough for them to be soft but not cooked all the way through.
- Take the meat out of the pan (DO NOT DRAIN) and set aside.
- In that same pan, add your mushrooms and cook up in the meat grease - once the mushrooms are soft, add the spinach and wilt it in the same pan w/the mushrooms.
- In a bowl, add drained diced tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, cashew "cheese", garlic, italian seasonings, salt & pepper - Mix well!
- sauce cashew cheese on the bottom
- 1/2 of the meat combination
- 1/2 of the spinach/mushrooms
- eggplant, laying next to eachother...trying to cover bottom as much as possible
- sauce/cashew cheese
- last portion of meat
- last portion of spinach/mushrooms
- eggplant
- sauce/cashew cheese
- Bake in oven for 25 min.
- Let the lasagna sit and cool for about 15 min before slicing.
- **Cashew "Cheese"
- In a large bowl, comine all ingredients until incorporated (blender would work great too!)