Day 29 of 40
Originally posted on Cooking Up Clean [Photo credit: Kari Lund]
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 60-70 min
Serves: 12
Ingredients:
- 1 box brown rice lasagna noodles (or other noodles of choice)
- 1 pound Italian sausage
- 2 teaspoons fennel seed
- 1 medium onion, diced
Cauliflower “Ricotta” Layer:
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 8 ounces shitake or crimini mushrooms, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup broth of any kind
- 2 eggs
Marinara Sauce:
- 2 large cans (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup squash or pumpkin puree (about 1 acorn squash, roasted and pureéd)
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 1 teaspoon rosemary
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon marjoram
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 cup olives, chopped
- ¼ cup olive brine
Topping:
- 3 bell peppers – 1 each of green, red, and yellow
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Break apart cauliflower into florets and place on baking sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil and roast 40 minutes, turning once halfway through.
- While cauliflower is roasting, brown sausage in pan with fennel and onion then drain excess fat. Set aside.
- In separate frying pan, sauté mushrooms with garlic until mushrooms have given up most of their moisture.
- Add roasted cauliflower, mushrooms, garlic, salt, broth, and eggs into a bowl and blend with a stick blender or place in regular blender and pulse until mixture resembles ricotta. Set aside.
- For marinara sauce, combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl or saucepan and mix well.
- Lightly grease a 9×13 pan with olive oil. Have your bowls of sauce, cauliflower ricotta, and sausage handy along with the noodles.
- Layer as follows: 2 cups sauce, 4 noodles, ½ of the ricotta mixture, ½ of the sausage, 2 cups sauce, 4 noodles, last ½ of the ricotta mixture, last ½ of the sausage, 2 cups sauce, 4 noodles, remaining sauce (approx. 2 cups).
- Slice three bell peppers and layer on top.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake 60 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove foil and turn on broiler for 10 additional minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 15 minutes before serving.
Notes:
If you prefer to steam the cauliflower, this works too, just omit the broth in the cauliflower ricotta layer.
This dish is also delicious if you add ½ cup parmesan or manchego to the cauliflower ricotta mixture. Can be topped with mozzarella as well for any who wish to add a little cheese.
You can freeze this by letting it cool completely after baking. Cover with a layer of plastic wrap, then two layers of aluminum foil. Freeze up to two months. To reheat, let thaw until the center is no longer frozen, but still cool, and bake at 350 degrees about 45 min to 1 hour until hot throughout.
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