This is a collection of recipes I have developed over the years. I like simple cooking but with a bit of pizzazz. Our family has many ailments, from acid reflux, to heartburn to being intolerant to dairy and wheat. My recipes are created to eliminate the trigger factors in our food that have been giving us problems over the years.

This is just a general guide of what I have cooked and what has worked for us over the years. I do urge you though to consult a doctor if you are experiencing these problems before commencing any new diets.

I also wanted a simple and quick way to prepare meals and save time and money on needless tasks and ingredients. I have come up with ways to use one ingredient such as mince or chicken and cook in  a few different ways in one meal to cater for my families different needs. I will try to put up recipes on a regular basis.

Today’s Receipe Update!

Gluten & Dairy Free Lasagna Recipe!

Looking back at one of my favourite recipes to create! Lasgna! It’s always been a favourite of mine and what I love about it most is you can create whatever sauce or filling you want! There are even dessert versions of it!

This recipe is gluten free and dairy free. Since having to watch both I did miss out for a while! San Remo pasta have brought out a wonderful range of gluten free pasta so you don’t have to miss out. Along with Bio plant based cheese it’s great to be able to eat my favourite food again!

Check out my recipe below!

Prep Time : 1/2 hour

Sauce cooking time: 3-4 hours

Lasagna Cooking time: 30-40 minutes

Serves: 4

Sauce Ingredients

2 bottles tomato passata 700g each bottle- I used the Mutti brand from Woolworths

800g can diced tomatoes – I used Woolworths brand Italian diced tomatoes

1/4 Olive oil – I used Woolworths Brand Olive oil

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil (again with both dried herbs I used the Woolworths Home brand

Salt and pepper to taste

Please note you can add 1/2 diced onion and 1 teaspoon crushed garlic if you like. For me I can’t have those so I didn’t put them in.

Instructions

1. In a large heavy based pan, pour in olive oil, then passata, and diced tomatoes, add herbs, and salt and pepper. (If you are adding onion and garlic, fry these in the oil first for a minute and then add other ingredients) Fill one of the passata bottles 3/4 way with water and add to sauce. Stir all ingredients together.
2. Set heat on high and bring sauce to a boil. Once boiled, simmer on low heat for 3-4 hours. The longer you leave to simmer on low heat the better the sauce you will get. If you see the sauce thicken too much add a little bit of water and stir. Sauce should be a thick liquid consitency such as a pumpkin soup consistency.
3. Once cooked take off heat and set aside and get the rest of your lasagna ingredients ready.

Lasagna Filling Ingredients

500g beef mince (I prefer to use the grass fed mince from Woolworths, it has less fat content)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 cup of the prepared sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 cup grated mozzarella

400g mozzarella extra

200 g grated parmesan extra

again if you wish to use onion put in approx 1/4 finely diced onion and 1 teaspon garlic and fry with mince.

Instructions

1. Place olive oil in heavy based saucepan, turn on heat to medium, if adding onion and garlic, add in first and fry for 1 minute, add mince and fry until browned.
2. Add in herbs, salt and pepper, stir through
3. Add 1 cup of prepared sauce, stir through then add 1/4 cup each of the mozzarella and parmesan cheese, stir through and set heat to a low simmer, simmer for approx 15-20 minutes, Continue stirring occasionally, If mixture seems to dry out add a bit more sauce.
4. Once cooked, turn off heat and set aside for when you are ready to assemble lasagna.

Please see below for steps. I have added in this one fried eggplant but you can add other vegetables if you wish.

Assembling Lasanga

1. Have lasgana sheets ready
2. Cover the bottom of a glass or ceramic dish with sauce
3. Layer pasta sheets to cover bottom of dish
4. Top with spoonfuls of mince meat, add extra mozzarella and parmesan cheese, ladle tomato sauce on top to cover meat and cheese, add the next layer of pasta and continue until you reach the top of the dish. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and cover with alfoil.
5. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 30-40 minutes. (check at the 30 minute mark if pasta is not yet cooked leave for a bit more.
6. Always make sure on the final layer that you cover the lasagna sheets completely with enough sauce so that the pasta doesn’t dry out when cooking.
7. Enjoy with some Italian bread and a nice bottle of wine!

Thank you as always for reading my blog post. To make this receipe economical I used mainly Woolworths home brand ingredients.

You can also make this dish in disposable aluminium trays and freeze after cooking to reheat when needed.

Hope you enjoyed this recipe

Vicky