Lasagna

Lasagna is one of my ultimate comfort foods.  It has pasta and cheese, and the warmth of a big square of lasagna is like a food hug.  There are so many variations, but I've found the best way is to just use whatever is in your fridge.  If you have vegetables, use them!  If you like lasagna with meat, by all means use it.  There are no strict guidelines for lasagna.

For me, it's all about the sauce.  I make my own using San Marzano tomatoes, sauteed onion and garlic, and the following to taste: red wine, brown sugar, dried basil, dried oregano, salt and pepper.  This is the easiest for me to make because all of these ingredients are typical pantry items of mine, so that means no rushing out to the store!

Gluten-free ingredients and leftover sauce

This recipe calls for very little adaptation.  I used gluten-free Bisquick for a quick dusting on my zucchini before throwing it in the pan.  The only gluten-free lasagna noodles I have found are these brown rice Tinkyada noodles.  I normally don't care for brown rice pasta, but parcooking and baking the noodles definitely helps the texture.

If you have any leftover sauce, put it into ice cube trays and save it!  I use this sauce all the time, and it is amazing on pizza.

Lasagna

Serves 4 (or 2 + a few leftover meals)

gluten-free lasagna noodles

any vegetable or cooked meat (optional)

28 oz crushed tomatoes

1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
red wine
brown sugar
dried basil (or fresh, if you have it)
dried oregano
salt and pepper
mozzarella cheese
parmesan cheese

For the sauce:
Saute onions and garlic until lightly brown.  Stir in the tomatoes.  Add, to taste: red wine (just a couple tablespoons will be enough), a pinch of brown sugar, 1/2 tsp basil, 1/2 oregano, salt and pepper.  Let simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Cook your vegetable and/or meat if including.  I had a zucchini, so I dusted Bisquick on one side to give a crunchy texture and fried them in a large pan.  While these are cooking, shred the cheese if not already shredded. 

Parcook noodles.  The package says 13-14 minutes for noodles that will be baked.  Once down, rinse with ice water and drizzle with a little olive oil to keep from sticking.

To assemble:
Spoon a little bit of sauce at the bottom of your baking dish, and spread it around.  Place your noodles (you may have to cut them down), overlapping the edges a bit.  Now this is where you can get pretty creative, because the layering can be done in any order.  I then layered more sauce, then cheese, then zucchini, noodles, sauce, cheese, noodles, sauce, and cheese.

Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes, and allow 10 minutes to cool and set.

Before cooking, with layer of zucchini, and after cooking.  Look at those crunchy edges!

This is a great meal to make a day in advance, and warm it up in the oven for a few minutes before serving.  It seems to taste better the next day, and it always sets up perfectly.