There are so many great ways to make grain-free lasagna. Here’s one of my favorites from one of my cookbooks, The Healthy Coconut Flour Cookbook (page 149).
There are a couple of techniques I use to make a gluten-free, grain-free lasagna: use vegetables as noodles, like zucchini or celeriac, bake all the ingredients minus the noodles and call it good, or use grain-free crépes or tortillas as noodles.
Here’s the very cool thing about this recipe: you can change the type of noodle and it comes out great no matter what you choose.
I’ve made this recipe with roasted zucchini, coconut flour tortillas, fried egg, crêpes, and all purpose flour tortillas when guests are not following a special diet.
And a bonus: this recipe makes great leftovers! Store sealed in the refrigerator for several days, or seal and freeze for a few weeks.
Mexican Lasagna
I’ve made this recipe with roasted zucchini, coconut flour tortillas, fried egg, crêpes, and all purpose flour tortillas when guests are not following a special diet. I’ve made it without green chilies and cilantro, and it’s still great. So feel free to substitute and change it up. This is not dairy-free but can be made dairy-free by removing the cheese and using a dairy-free cheese substitute. Another option is to use a creamy white bean sauce like the one used here or cashew sour cream from my SCD book, page 23. If you’re following SCD, use an SCD-legal cheese such as dry curd cottage cheese, Havarti, or Parmesan cheese. Tip: To get the top brown and bubbly, I turn the oven up to broil for a minute or so at the very end. Also, I’ve made this when I haven’t had cilantro or green onions, and it still came out great!Ingredients
- 5 ounces (142 g) spinach leaves
- 1 cup (16 g) cilantro (not packed)
- 4 green onions (68 g)
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or other cooking oil
- 1/2 pound ground chicken (or turkey or beef)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt for the chicken
- 14.5 ounce (411 g) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with green chilies (or add green chilies separately)
- 2 cups (170 g) shredded or grated Monterey Jack cheese or Pepper Jack cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon hot sauce or cayenne pepper (optional)
- 6 to 8 tortillas
Method
- Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C, or gas mark 7).
- Finely chop the green onions, spinach, and cilantro. You can speed up this step by pulsing all the greens in a food processor. Add the spinach in small bunches.
- Place a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and add the ground chicken. Break up the chicken with a spatula as it cooks.
- Cook the chicken for a few minutes or until it’s mostly cooked. Remove it from the saucepan and set aside on a warm plate.
- Add the chopped spinach, onions, and cilantro to the saucepan along with the chili powder, cumin, salt, and fire-roasted tomatoes with chilies. If you’re adding the chilies separately, add them now as well.
- Cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes stirring occasionally and then turn off the heat.
- Place the first layer of tortillas in an 8-inch x 8-inch (20.3 cm x 20.3 cm) baking dish, or about 2 tortillas so they cover the bottom of the dish.
- On top of the tortillas place a layer of the chicken mixture across the tortillas and then a layer of shredded cheese.
- Cover the cheese with another layer of tortillas and repeat the sequence. In all you’ll have three layers, about 2 tortillas in each layer, and the final layer will have the chicken mixture covered with cheese so the top layer is cheese.
- Place the lasagna in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until it is bubbling and the cheese is browning.
- Cool for a moment and slice. Serve warm. Store covered in the refrigerator for a few days, or in the freezer for a few months.
Makes 6 to 8 servings
Leave a Reply