This gorgeous white lasagne is made with eggplant as the noodles so it’s naturally lower in carbs and completely gluten-free.
Today I am sharing a guest post from my lovely friend, Katie Webster of Healthy Seasonal Recipes. Katie is a true delight. She’s sweet, funny, and has an infectious laugh. She also happens to be a trained chef, food stylist and photographer. When I put out a call for a few guest posts after my husband’s accident, Katie instantly stepped up to the plate. And I am certainly happy she did. Look at this gorgeous creation! I can’t wait to try making it myself. Thanks so much, Katie!
I am so excited to be visiting here today. I met Carolyn earlier this year because we were both on the CabotFit Team. When we met, I knew we’d be good friends because we are both moms, fitness fanatics and proud food science dorks. [Strange but true that we love chatting about swapping ingredients and problem solving ways to get recipes to work.] Then there’s also the fact that we’re both healthy food bloggers.
When Carolyn told me that she would love to have me guest post here on All Day I Dream About Food, I leapt at the opportunity, and I knew just which recipe I wanted to share. I pitched the idea for my Roasted Garlic and Chevre Low Carb Lasagna, and she loved the idea. It is one of those recipes I have made so many times, at this point, I don’t even have to measure when I make it. I know it that well. The reason being that it was the absolutely top favorite recipe when I had a personal chef business. Week after week, I made this lasagna, and my low-carb clients were as happy as could be. And even though I gave up my business years ago, I still make this recipe pretty regularly. It’s a keeper for sure.
Here’s Why:
- Left-Overs Rock: first and foremost are the left-overs. I know you’d think that was the last thing, but I am always looking for something yummy to heat up for lunch, and this always hits the spot. Just cut off a serving and pop it in the microwave (or an oven works well too if you prefer.)
- Make-Ahead: And at this time of year, with all of the looming holidays and social obligations it is a great make-ahead option. Just prepare it through step 4 and refrigerate it up to a day in advance.
- No just low carb it’s also Vegetarian, GF and Lactose Free: Because it has cashew cream in it instead of dairy milk or cream it is friendly for lactose-free folks. So vegetarians, folks with celiac disease and low carb lovers will all be happy with this one.
- Great Party Food: Like this recipe’s carby cousin (a lasagna with noodles) this recipe is great for feeding a crowd. Just double it to serve twelve.
- Best part is that it tastes so good!: Creamy garlic and chevre are two flavors that I think were made to be together. I love how savory it is!
About the ingredients:
This recipe uses zucchini, eggplant and onions, all thinly sliced in lieu of noodles. The trick to it is just very thinly cutting the veggies. I use a mandolin to do it, and they get nice and thin, just like a lasagna noodle. If you have a sharp knife that works too, but try to get it around the same thickness as a noodle.
This is a white lasagna with a creamy sauce. So instead of tomato sauce this has cashew cream in its place. To make that, just puree raw cashews with water for a few minutes until it is completely smooth. It takes a few minutes, but you don’t want any graininess. Cashew cream is a great vegan low-carb alternative to cream. It also makes a mean crème brulee, but that’s a recipe for another time.
The addition of chevre and roasted garlic makes it ultra-rich. No one will miss the meat.
Then all it takes is a bit of assembly. I top it off with Parmesan (which has a very low amount of lactose in it, so it is great for lactose intolerance.) you can also use hard aged goat cheese or goat cheddar for the top.
Hopefully this will be one of those recipes that you think is a keeper too. Let me know what you think, and I would be so glad to meet you! I’d love if you stopped by my blog for a visit. Also feel free to keep up with the latest on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HealthySeasonalRecipes or find me obsessively pinning away on Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/healthyseasonal/ .
Ingredients
- 1 head garlic
- 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup raw cashews pieces 2.25 ounces
- ¾ cup filtered water
- 1 egg
- 4 ounces chevre or fresh goat cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped mixed fresh herbs such as thyme rosemary and sage
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon Freshly ground pepper
- 2 medium zucchini stem cut off (1.5 pounds)
- 1 small eggplant stem cut off (1.25 pounds)
- 1 small sweet onion peeled and cored
- 1 medium tomato cored and thinly sliced
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan Reggiano or Hard Aged Goat Cheese
- Fresh basil for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut ends of garlic head off with a serrated knife exposing individual tips of garlic cloves. Place root-side down on a double layer of aluminum foil and drizzle olive oil over the exposed garlic clove ends. Wrap foil into a packet and transfer to the oven (seam side-up.) Roast garlic until soft, fragrant and starting to brown, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from oven and open packet and allow garlic to cool.
- Puree cashew pieces and water in blender until completely smooth, 1 ½ to 2 minutes, scraping down sides occasionally. Squeeze garlic out of papery skins into the cashew mixture and discard skins. Add egg, chevre or fresh goat cheese, chopped mixed herbs, salt and pepper and puree until smooth and creamy.
- Cut zucchini, eggplant and onion lengthwise as thinly as possible into sheets with a mandolin or very sharp knife.
- Coat a 9 by 9 inch baking dish or other 2 ½ quart baking dish with cooking spray. Spoon about ¼ cup chevre sauce onto bottom of the baking dish. Layer a third of the zucchini, eggplant and onion into the bottom of the dish. Layer in ½ cup chevre sauce. Top with another layer of vegetables and sauce. Top with a final layer of vegetables, tomatoes, and any remaining chevre sauce. Cover with a layer of parchment and then cover with foil and transfer to the oven.
- Bake until completely cooked through and the vegetables are soft, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. An instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the casserole will register 180 degrees or higher. Remove foil and top with the Parmesan or aged goat cheese. Return to the oven until the cheese is melted, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool 15 minutes before garnishing with basil and serving.
Notes
Bio: Katie has been a professional recipe developer for more than a decade. She is a contributing editor at EatingWell Magazine and writes recipes for Fitness Magazine and Parents Magazine. Her recipes and photography can also be found on her blog Healthy Seasonal Recipes http://www.healthyseasonalrecipes.com/. She lives with her husband and two high-energy daughters in Vermont.
Liz says
Sorry haven’t cooked with eggplant before. Do I peel before slicing???
Carolyn says
No need in this recipe.
MPaula says
I stopped eating zucchini a few years ago when I heard it was usually GMO. A local farmer doesn’t think it is but since labeling is not required, how would we know? I have heard this from more than one source. Do any of you know or have heard the same thing?
I love eggplant so no worries about using only that but zucchini is much less expensive. I would use it if it were “safe”.
Carolyn says
Buy organic zucchini. Farmers who grow certified organic produce aren’t allowed to use GMO seeds at all. And it’s still quite inexpensive on the whole.
Carolyn says
By the way, zucchini isn’t “usually GMO”, since only two species are genetically modified. I did a little research on that.
Ami says
I just made this with few substitutions for stuff that i had on hand: pine nuts instead of cashews, added ham bcause it was too old on the fridge, skipped the tomato and opps i just saw that i missed the onions… but all in all it was delicious!!!!. thanks for the recipe
Evan says
Is there a unwritten ‘dehydrate the vegetables somehow’ step? Both times I’ve made this, I wound up with cheesey vegetables floating in cheesey water instead of lasagna. (DELICIOUS cheesey vegetables floating in cheesey water, but not easy to serve!)
Now here’s hoping anyone but Kris Hancock answers, seeing as they were apparently born a trained chef and have never had to ask a question in their life, rendering them incapable of being polite or helpful when an insecure cook tries to better themselves by asking for assistance…
amig says
evan, i noticed the same issue my first go around and the second time i didn’t add the water to the cheese mix, the egg alone was enough to spread it around.
ayna says
this looks amazing…cant wait to try it!!
Susan says
Looks lovely! FWIW, I’ve been using figitforfitness’s (on YouTube) recipe for almond flour crepes (tweaked a bit – I use coconut flour rather than the small amount of soy flour she has in the recipe) for lasagne and manicotti, and I’m very pleased with how they hold up to the fillings and reheating. While I love eggplant and the idea of using it as a noodle substitute, I don’t own a mandolin, so the crepes work great for me (and my dietary concerns). Just wanted to mention it for those who might be in the same predicament.
Kris Hancock says
Q: Can I substitute any other squash for the eggplant?
A: No, no you can’t.
Kris Hancock says
…of course you can…
Katie | Healthy Seasonal Recipes says
Yes, yes substitute away! In the summer I make it with summer squash and leeks. I would also love to try it with thinly sliced delicata squash layered in some time.
Joshua Hampton says
This is a beautiful lasagna recipe. As much as I love lasagna with noodles, I don’t think I’ll miss it so much if I have this instead. Thanks so much for posting this recipe.
Katie | Healthy Seasonal Recipes says
Thanks Joshua! Hope you like it.
Robin Morelock says
Ugh! I just noticed I mispelled your name. Sorry!
Robin Morelock says
Hi Caroline,
I’ve really enjoyed your recipes! I have a somewhat off the wall question for you. As a scientist (not a food scientist) I approach “health” food trends with great skepticism. I like to see them backed up with actual research, the kind based on empirical data. From a chemistry research standpoint low carb makes a lot of sense to me, even if one isn’t diabetic. Gluten free…not so much, unless of course a person has an intolerance or allergy. Would you share your philosophy behind a gluten free diet? Is it to accomodate those who can’t tolerate gluten or do you have other reasons? Thank you!
Carolyn says
Hi Robin,
I have a background in science as well. I chose to go gluten-free primarily because the majority of gluten-containing foods are quite high carb. I don’t “need” to be gluten-free, but have found that it works well for me. If there’s a tiny bit of gluten in my diet from cross-contamination, I don’t really care. But a lot of people are choosing to go gluten-free right now, and since I have become quite adept at gluten-free baking, my recipes help both low carbers and gluten-free-ers (not a real word, I know!).
However, there is a great deal of research that does support the idea that gluten isn’t really all that great for any of us. And as my science background is in human evolution, I realize that grains would have been a very tiny part of the early human diet. They are hard to collect by hand and don’t amount to much caloric intake, so they wouldn’t be a highly-valued resource…not until they began to evolve in response to humans picking them and became bigger and hardier and easier to harvest. That is how they became domesticated, after all. I think the emphasis on wheat and grains in our diets is a huge contributing factor to health issues in the Western world.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! 😉
Robin Morelock says
Thanks for your response Carolyn! (Got your name right this time!) That’s pretty much what I was thinking. Low carb sort of encompasses gluten-free baking and cooking. I’m sure those with gluten issues greatly appreciate that you provide gluten-free recipes.
Thanks again!
Regan @ The Healthy Aperture Blog says
This looks so amazing.
Question for Katie: You say you make the cashew cream in a blender… ordinary blender? Or should it be a high power Vitamix type? I’m intrigued. And no need to soak the cashews before blending? Also, any thought about using a combo of low-fat milk thickened with Greek-style yogurt in place of the cashew cream for nut allergies, rather than half and half… mainly, because those are ingredients I always have on hand 😉
Carolyn says
This isn’t Katie, but I am sure you could give your ingredients a try!
Katie | Healthy Seasonal Recipes says
Hi Regan:) I use a regular blender, it takes a few minutes to make the “cream” and I have to scrape down often to make sure no bits are caught on the edges. I am sure a Vitamix would work perfectly, and probably in half the time! I would love to know if the Greek and milk combo works, I worry that it may “break” at such hot temps due to its high protein content and lack of a starch stabilizing it. Let me know if you try it.
Carolyn says
Thanks for answering all the questions, Katie!
Rosanne says
Question on making this nut free: What could I replace the cashews with to accomodate a nut allergy? Could I use sour cream, greek yogurt, more cheese or make a flour rioux first and then blend with the garlic?
Carolyn says
I suspect you could use cream or some other dairy product in its place but I will ask Katie!
Carolyn says
Katie says: I would say either 1 1/4 cup of half + half or whole milk for the water and cashews.
Kris Hancock says
This is a recipe, people.
Make this according to the “suggestion”, or substitute good quality terra-firma for any of the ingredients.
Thank you for your starting place on this, Katie. As in all meal preparations, it is up to the Chef as to how to apply the general ingredient list in accordance with their own particular likes, dislikes, husbands likes, kids allergies, season, religion, sale at Walmart, digestion issues or any other reason.
Carolyn says
No worries. People aren’t always fully comfortable substituting one ingredient for another. I, on the other hand, rarely follow a recipe to the letter and it’s made me a very confident cook/baker.