Gluten Free Lasagna

Gluten Free Lasagna 

-Mid-Week Meal-

This week I have been craving lasagna like crazy... Don't ask me why. SO I thought I would use this recipe I came up with for my 'mid-week meal' recipe. Lasagna is actually pretty simple to make. Not too many ingredients and all you have to do is layer it :) And you can be creative with it by adding in cheeses you like, meats and vegetables you like into the layers. 

The basics Needs:

Lean ground beef  - I never do the same amount - Sometimes I like to add more and other times less. If you are looking for a measurement do 3/4 lb or 1 lb. 

Cheese - I love cheese so I will mix up different kinds that I like. If I'm looking for simple ill just use a marble through out the whole thing or my favorite: Mozzarella. what is very popular and I will have say probably the best way is adding 3-4cups of mozzarella, 3/4 - 1 cup of parmesan and 15-16 oz of ricotta. You can do a tub of cottage cheese.

You can make a cheese sauce if you would prefer that... Egg and cream, add cheese. 

Gluten Free Lasagna noodles -  A popular brand is Tinkyada. These are rice noodles made with whole grain but do not contain wheat or gluten. Look for a brand in your store, make sure you read the label to say 'gluten free'. 1 box should be enough. 

Tomato Sauce - Use the brand you like best when you make pasta or spaghetti. Ones that have flavors already in it or if you wish plain ones so you can add the flavor yourself. I like the herb and garlic types and then if i feel up to it ill add more herbs and spices to it. 1 can is plenty.

If you google recipes you will notice a long list of ingredients, this is because they ask for the spices and added vegetables they agree tastes good in their recipe. I like to use what I like. You can play around with this yourself too. 

If you like some inspiration you can add:

• Crushed tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, asparagus, celery, zucchini, brocoli, cauliflower...etc. 

And for herbs and spices:

• Bay leaves, oregano, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, or go with an italian seasoning...etc.  

You are allowed to be creative with your lasagna - if you arent a meat eater, replace the meat with veggies. For you meat lovers, you can use beef, pork, turkey... pretty much anything ground. In australia they have ground kangaroo. Sausage is also popular in lasagna. 

 How to make:

1. If you are planning to use onion saute until golden grown, add garlic. 

2.  Add ground meat, cook until brown (add sausage here). Make sure you chop the meat into small pieces with your stirring utensil. 

3.  If you are adding vegetables I find it best to to do them in a seperate pan with oil to soften them then add to ground beef pan. Or you can add them now to the ground beef if you want them to do most of there cooking in the oven.

 4. Add the tomato sauce of your choice. This is when you would add your herbs and spices. Stir everything together well. 

5. Stir well until simmer. Taste and add salt and pepper as you wish.

Note: Gluten free noodles do not need cooking. For a regular lasagna you can purchase ready-to-bake noodles. If you do not then you have to boil them first to soften the noodle before layering and then baking. 

Layering:

Begin with the ground meat sauce on the bottom. You can be creative with your layers, every recipe is different. The sauce layer first is mainly just to coat the noodles.

You can follow something like this:

Meat Sauce, Noodles, cheese (mix or just parmesan), meat sauce, cheese sauce (if using) or cheese mixture, noodles, meat sauce, cheese mix or just parmesan.

I say just parmesan because the layers of cheese do not have to all be the same mixes, its actually more popular for people to have more than one mix or a mix and another layer of just one kind of cheese. My mother-in-law uses cottage cheese as a layer and it tastes really good. I find that many people like parmesan as a layer on its own. For the top, some like just parmesan some like just a layer of mozzarella or marble to make a crust. Its really up to what you and your family preferences are.

*One of these days I want to write about how I like to make my own pasta sauce. Its not hard and it tastes yummm.

I hope you enjoyed todays post!! Happy Cooking everyone!!!

With Love:
ME!