Sweet Italian Sausage Lasagna with Cauliflower Noodles {Paleo Optional}

On Monday night as the rest of the country was watching team USA beat Ghana, I was making cauliflower lasagna noodles.  Is that right there the lamest statement you’ve ever heard?  Yeah, I thought so.  But I knew that if I waited until the end of the game to get things started we would have been eating at a ridiculous hour, and when we eat at a ridiculous hour bad, bad things happen.  The demons come out.  No one wants that.  So I pranced back and forth between the kitchen and the living room, finally getting the noodles in the oven in time to catch the last ten minutes.  Which coincidentally were the only minutes that mattered, so cauliflower lasagna noodles: I forgive you…

…for making me miss the game.  But that wasn’t the only issue I had with the cauliflower noodles.  They also didn’t hold together at all.  See all these pretty pictures of perfect lasagna noodles?  Yeah, mine didn’t look like that at all.  I knew it was going to be impossible to pick them up off the parchment paper in one piece, so instead I tried to carefully flip each half into the pan.  Even that method was only moderately successful.  I think perhaps I either had the egg to cauliflower ratio off or spread the dough too thin.  The redeeming factor was that the lasagna was still freakin’ delicious, so I’ll probably try it again with a few tweaks.  I may also try adding cheese and/or flax seed to the dough and not cooking the cauliflower in advance (similar to this pizza crust).  The bolognese was to die for; I wouldn’t change a single thing.  I could definitely see putting the sauce over pasta or even spaghetti squash!

Sweet Italian Sausage Lasagna with Cauliflower Noodles

Adapted from Popular Paleo

Ingredients:

For the Noodles

• 1 large head of cauliflower
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Remove the leaves and core from your head of cauliflower and chop into small pieces.  You want to have about 6 cups of cauliflower.
2. Next, steam the cauliflower using whatever method you prefer; I steamed mine stove top.  You want it to be cooked but not total mush.
3. Use a potato masher to break down the cauliflower; you can also pulse it in a food processor, just be sure not to over process.  Cauliflower releases a fair amount of liquid while it cooks, so try to drain off what you can.  Mix in the seasoning and eggs.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  I recommend also spraying the parchment paper, as I had some trouble with stick.  Spread the cauliflower batter onto the parchment paper.  You have to eyeball the baking dish you plan to use for the lasagna and  spread out the cauliflower so that when you cut it in two large sections, the layers will fit squarely in the baking dish.  I believe the dish I used was 9″ x 9″.  The cauliflower should be about a half inch thick.
5. Bake the cauliflower for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. It needs to be a little overcooked and dried out.
6. When the cauliflower “noodle” has finished cooking, remove from oven and transfer to a large cutting board or work surface.  (I had a great deal of trouble with this, as discussed above.  If you’re not able to transfer it to a cutting board, you may just need to cut it in half, cut the parchment paper in half using scissors, and carefully flip it into the pan.  It won’t look as pretty as you may like, but it still tastes delicious!)  Divide into two sections that will perfectly fit into your baking dish.

For the Bolognese

• 2-3 carrots, peeled and chopped (1 cup)
• 1 small yellow onion, diced (1.5 cups)
• 1 rib celery, diced (1/2 cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 1 lb Sweet Italian sausage
• 1 – 14.5oz can organic diced tomatoes
• 1 – 15oz can organic tomato sauce
• Extra virgin olive oil

1. Heat about a tablespoon or two of olive oil over medium heat in a dutch oven or large sauce pan.  Add the diced onion, celery and carrots and sprinkle with salt and seasonings.  Sauté for about 4-5 minutes.
2. Add minced garlic and the sausage and cook until the sausage has browned.
3. Stir in the canned diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or so on medium-low heat, stirring from time to time.

Assembly

• Cauliflower noodles
• Bolognese
• A couple of handfuls baby spinach
• Optional: shredded mozzarella (omit for Paleo/Whole30)

Cover the bottom of your baking dish with sauce (about one cup).  Top with a cauliflower noodle, followed by half of the remaining sauce, a couple of handles of spinach and shredded mozzarella (if you’re using it).  Layer on the second cauliflower noodle and top with remaining sauce and mozzarella.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Serves 4

Johanna