Veggie Pesto Coconut Lasagna
This is a totally new one. I have never done this before and really didn’t know how this would come out. My criteria was: Gluten Free pasta dish and I wanted it to be meatless since it happened to be Friday. (Yes, even out of Lent I try to fast from meat! It’s a prayer thing.) And I wanted to avoid my tomatoes (which I love, but they don’t love me).
So starting with my favorite gluten-free AND paleo pasta, Cappellos. My youngest daughter loves this stuff. It’s a bit expensive, but we don’t have pasta very often anymore. And it is a saving dish when needed in a moment’s notice. I buy them on sale and freeze the boxes. For this dish, I used their lasagna sheets, but their fettuccini is also a favorite. Then I went to my abundant stash of summer squash and zucchini from our garden. I had some loose broccoli and cauliflower in refrig. And, oh my, I had a lot of basil in the garden to harvest! So with these as the base, I started my first Veggie Pesto Coconut Lasagna dish.
I made the pesto with walnuts, garlic, lemon juice, little salt and pepper, and a lot of basil leaves, as well as some spinach leaves (since I had them fresh and it sweetened the pure basil sharpness). Enough olive oil added to make the paste. And then I did something I’ve never done before… I added coconut milk (from a can), mainly to thin out the sauce to pour over the lasagna. It worked wonderfully.
I layered the lasagna sheets with the pesto paste, then a layer of fresh/raw vegetables, then either another layer of pasta/veggies, or some cheese. Yes, this paleo pasta dish was not without a little dairy. I used non-dairy Daiya cheese for most part, but there is something about real cheese flavor. My girls can tell the difference even if I cannot anymore. And besides, we can do a little dairy, so I added some parmesan and a little mozzarella cheese left in our refrigerator. I can’t stand wasting good food. On the top layers I added the pesto-coconut sauce and parmesan cheese.
Then end result was fantastic! The veggies cooked perfectly inside. Just the right amount of cheese. The almond pasta is the best! I will post this recipe soon. For now I have more pesto paste in refrigerator and I think the coconut milk addition is perfect for tomorrow’s chicken dinner!
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