Paleo Lasagne

This lasagna can been made vegan or vegetarian by substituting the meat for tofu or Quorn. This is a super healthy and far more nutritious version of the old faithful lasagna! I have ditched the pasta in favour of eggplant which is low-calorie, a great source fibre, potassium, manganese and vitamins B1, B6 and folate and contains phytonutrients and flavonoids, which have antioxidant properties and help neutralize free radicals, which lessens oxidative damage to cell membranes. I have used chicken mince but you can use beef or pork.

Now for anyone who has made lasagna, you know it is not a 15 minute meal. This one is no exception, it does take a bit of prep work and cooking time but I promise it’s worth it!

For the meat-
2 lge chicken breasts (made into mince in food processor or just buy chicken mince)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
Roast capsicum sauce (optional but delicious)- 4 capsicums, chopped and roasted then blended with a bunch of basil until it is a purée.
3 cloves garlic- crushed
1 tbs macadamia oil

For the “cheese sauce” – delicious but this does not taste like cheese so as long as you know that you won’t be disappointed.
1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked in cold water for 30 mins
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp tahini
Juice 1 lemon
1/4 cup almond milk

The Rest-
1 lge eggplant, sliced thinly as possible (if you have a mandolin or slicey-thingy you are winning)
1/4 pumpkin, sliced thinly
2 zuccini’s, sliced thinly

Do the meat first. In a frypan, heat the oil and chuck in the garlic and fry for a few minutes. Add chicken mince (or whatever mince you are using) and stir fry until about half cooked though. Add tin tomatoes and roast capsicum purée and reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and place aside.

For the “cheese sauce”. Drain water from cashews and place all ingredients except milk into the food processor and whizz until smooth, you can now slowly add the milk until it reached the desired consistency. You kind of want it to be the runniness of yoghurt.

Get a baking dish and layer with eggplant to completely cover the bottom of the dish. Add a layer of meat mix, layer this with a layer of cheese sauce. Top with a layer of pumpkin, a layer of zucchini then another eggplant layer. Follow with one mor layer of meat mix, cheese sauce and then a final eggplant layer on top and the remaining cheese sauce for the very top.

Cover with alfoil and bake on about 160 C for about 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for a further 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for at least 15 mins before you cut and serve it.

Enjoy!

0