This is going to seem surprising, but it is possible to make an excellent gluten-free lasagna by replacing the noodles with sliced butternut squash, following a method described in Donna Hay magazine. This lasagna has no tomato ingredients. The sweet squash combines perfectly with the cheeses and fresh basil to make a gourmet main course.
Butternut squash is an elongated winter storage squash. For this recipe, you need one large butternut squash, and you peel it and slice the neck into 1/4 inch thick slices – these will be circular slices.
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, peeled, and sliced in to 1/4 inch thick slices
1/2 pound large curd cottage cheese
1 pound full-fat ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese (buy the hunk of cheese and grate it yourself, to be sure there is no gluten)
5 eggs
1/2 pound spinach (if fresh, steam it briefly in the microwave, if frozen, thaw and drain)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves (or a few tablespoons of frozen pesto sauce)
12 thin slices of pancetta (an Italian ham) chopped coarsely
salt, pepper
full-fat mozzarella – 1/2 pound, grated (grate it yourself)
Oven at 325. Grease a porcelain or ceramic 9 x 13″ pan. Mix the cottage cheese, ricotta, parmesan, eggs, prepared spinach, basil, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Stir well.
Cover the bottom of the prepared pan with half of the slices of squash, sprinkle the squash with half of the chopped pancetta , then distribute half the ricotta mixture. Repeat this layering once. On the very top, sprinkle the mozzarella.
Bake for 50 minutes, until the top is golden and the dish is cooked through.
Make sure all of the ingredients are gluten free!
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