Sometimes I really miss Italian food. It is probably the hardest cuisine to convert to Paleo. I used to gorge myself on fettuccine alfredo. Now I can’t imagine eating such a heavy dish. Since investing in a spiral veggie cutter, I’ve been able to dabble in more Italian paleo friendly dishes with my zucchini noodles. RIght now is the season of squashes, and I am so happy! Spaghetti squash is my favorite pasta replacement, but after making this lasagna butternut squash is making a very serious claim for itself. This dish was crazy good. Now it isn’t exactly like classic lasagna because it isn’t oozing with cheese, but all the other flavors are there!
Ingredients
Italian seasoning
3/4 tsp dried basil
3/4 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp rosemary
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp dried thyme
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Sauce
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup roasted red peppers
1/2 tablespoon italian seasoning (from above)
1/2 tbls dried oregano, crushed
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbls olive oil
Meat
1 lb grass-fed ground beef, or turkey
1 tbls italian seasoning (from above)
1 tsp ghee
1 red onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, mined
1 butternut squash
Cheese (optional)
Recipe here
-I didn’t use the yeast and subbed water for wine, and it tasted great!
Directions
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Blend all italian spice seasoning with a mortar and pestle. For the sauce, mix all ingredients together in sauce pan. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in olive oil. Using an immersion blender
, puree sauce until smooth. You can also put it in a regular blender.
, puree sauce until smooth. You can also put it in a regular blender.Mix remaining seasoning with ground meat. Heat ghee in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Toss in onions and garlic. Cook until garlic is fragrant. Add in meat and brown.
Cut the bottom of the squash off to sturdy it and peel. Cut the squash where the round part and neck meet. Now cut each of those pieces lengthwise. Remove seeds and stringy bits. Cut squash into 1/2 inch planks.
Time to assemble. Using a 9×9 baking dish, spread a small layer of sauce evenly on the bottom. Lay an even layer of squash planks, doing your best to not overlap. Scoop on a layer of meat. Repeat process until you run out of ingredients, but make sure you save enough sauce to be the final layer! Cook for 40 minutes, remove add the cheese, and cook for another 5 minutes.
Recipe adapted from Health Bent here.
Enjoy!
x vanessa
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You mention olive oil in the sauce section but you don’t mention how much.
Oops! Thank you so much for pointing that out. It uses 2 tablespoons olive oil!
Can this be modified to be cooked in an Instant Pot?
Unfortunately I am not sure how this would work in an instapot.