Paleo Eggplant Lasagna at Christine’s

The crusty almond flour coating on the eggplant helps to soak up the meaty bolognese goodness getting ooey, gooey and decadent. Like making you feel warm all over on a winter’s day. That’s how my friend, Christine, describe’s her Paleo Eggpalnt Lasagna that we made at her house last week! She hit it right on the money.

It was Christine’s cross-fit community that introcuced her to this fresh Paleo way of living. Even though It did take a year before fully committing she has been following it for a couple of years and really loves it. Paleo refers to foods eaten during the Paleolithic times so basically if the cave man didn’t eat it, neither can you. There are different levels of Paleo, but true Paleo doesn’t allow any dairy or legumes. Not sure if being a true Paleo is exactly for me since I live for cheese and cetainly wouldn’t give up beans. Although, there are certain aspects of Paleo I think are wonderful like the fresh way of eating, nothing manufactured or processed! Like Christine say’s, everything in moderation.

This Paleo Eggplant Lasagna is definitly a guilt free dish that shouldn’t taste this darn good! You don’t even miss the cheese here because every bite is luscious! I highly recommend that you to get on the ball and check out this fresh Paleo way of eating. You won’t regret it one bit and may find yourself with a big ole smile on your face!

While you are on a freshness roll you may want to try my Guacamole, Pulled Beef and Mango Salsa, Salmon B.L.T Sliders, Seared Sea Scallops or Sweet Potato Fries with Green Goddess Sauce!

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants
5 eggs
1 recipe tomato-basil sauce (30 minute sauce) adding in an extra 28 oz can of puréed whole peeled tomatoes to the recipe OR Slow Cooked Old Style Italian-Tomato Sauce 101
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. gound veal
1 lb. ground lamb
1 pkg. almond flour
s & p
coconut oil spray
grapeseed oil for sautéing the meats

Directions – Pre-heat Oven to 350º

Make tomato- basil sauce and leave simmering on low, ready for the meats to be sautéed and added
Sauté the pork, veal and lamb separately and drain the oil from each of the meats after each sautéing, this will take about 5 minutes each
As each meat is finished draining stir it into your tomato sauce
Peel and slice 2 lg eggplants approx. 1/8″-1/4″ thick
Whisk 5 eggs in a medium bowl
Add 3-4 cups almond flour in another bowl for dredging the eggplant
Cover cookie tray with foil and spray with coconut oil
Dip each eggplant slice into the egg, then dredge into the almond flour flipping a couple of times to get a good coating on there
Then begin to lay the coated eggplant slices on the cookie trays
No need to spray the tops of the slices
Pop them into the oven for 20 minutes, just until tender
Note: the tops of the eggplant slices will not turn golden when baked
Begin to layer the pre-baked eggplant slices in a 13″ x 9″, 12″ x 8″ approx. baking dish
Spray bottom of baking dish with coconut oil
Begin with a sauce layer, then eggplant slices, meat sauce, eggplant, meat sauce and so on until you reach the rim of the baking dish ending with a meat sauce layer completeing the Paleo Eggplant Lasagna
Change foil layers on cookie tray to clean foil
Place the Paleo Eggplant Lasagna onto the foiled tray and bake for approx. 35 minutes still on 350º until bubbly all over
As with a traditional lasagna you want to let it sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing after you take it out of the oven…Mangia, mangia!!

Homemade Pasta Fagioli

This homemade pasta fagioli dish is a traditional Italian soup where the recipe differs from family to family and region to region. Every single version is different which makes it nice because it’s very personal that way. It’s what ever you were used to having in your own home or at your relatives growing up. Originally, pasta fagioli was made without meat, then there were versions that started the dish off by sauteing pancetta and now there are so many different recipes floating around. It’s what ever floats your boat really! It’s supposed to be easy gourmet…what ever you have in the pantry and refrigerator will work.

Pasta fagioli is a savory comfort food that I just love. It consist of several universal ingredients like ditalini pasta, cannellini beans, some kind of tomato base and a liquid of either chicken, or vegetable and I have even seen water used. It’s been considered a soup which is perfect for dunking that crusty bread but there are versions that make it more like a thick saucy “pasta” dish. The liquids do evaporate quickly after the pasta is added to the pot and cooked through so you have to be careful at this point to keep an eye on that if you want it to have a looser soup-like consistency.

The pronunciation of the word has evolved to “pasta fazool”. Then again, there are many variations of that as well 🙂 So enjoy this Italian soup…I know you will love it. If you need an appetizer to go with this gourmet homemade pasta fagioli you may want to check out my sea scallops wrapped in bacon, scallop cerviche, or even a refreshing fennel and citrus salad with tangerine dressing. And how about some Pavlova with fresh pineapple and berries for dessert!

INGREDIENTS For Pasta Fagioli (makes enough for many…10-15 side dishes):

2 cans cannellini beans

1/2 -3/4 cup ditalini pasta ( 1/2 if you want it looser soup-like consistencey …remember it just keeps getting thicker even after you take it off the stove as the liquid evaporates)

1 qt. (4 cups) chicken stock

1 cup white wine-pinot grigio or what ever you are drinking -(1/2 to deglaze pancetta and veggies and 1/2 when you add stock

1/3 cup each diced carrots, celery and onion

3 tbsp finely chopped garlic

2 cups whole peeled tomatoes with some juice, broken up with your hands – NOTE: USE 3 cups if you are not using a cup of “leftover pork & sauce”

1 cup pork in tomato sauce OR 1 lb. sausage taken out of the casing ready to sauté OR omit all together

2 1/4″ sliced of pancetta diced up or bacon

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary and 2 of fresh thyme tied in up with string

Fresh basil -julienne to add at the end

grated Reggiano Parmigiano and some to shave for decoration

good olive oil to drizzle at the end

1/2 tsp salt -add 1/4 tsp at the addition of sauteing veggies and 1/4 tsp when you add beans and broth

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes if you like a pinch of HEAT

DIRECTIONS:

Add diced pancetta to a large pan and begin to sauté for 8 minutes on med heat

Add in broken up sausage to brown with the pancetta If you do not have “pork in sauce”

On med/low heat add diced carrots, onion, celery and garlic with 1/4 tsp salt (along with 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes if you want a little heat) to the same pot with 1 tbsp olive oil extra – sauté til veggies are tender 10 minutes

De-glaze with 1/2 cup white wine and simmer 5 minutes

Add in beans, pork-sauce, whole peeled tomatoes, herb bouquet, chicken stock, 1/4 salt, 1/4 pepper and simmer for 30 minutes

Remove herb bouquet from soup

Take 4-5 ladles of beans out of the soup to puree for a little creamier then adding back in

Simmer 5 minutes and add in 1/2 cup ditalini pasta

Cook til pasta is cooked – approx 7 minutes

Plate up and drizzle olive oil, sprinkle parmigiano cheese and fresh basil and mangia mangia!