Classic gluten-free lasagna

I love lasagna. In fact, I posted a vegan-gluten free recipe on my web site several years ago made with almond milk ricotta cheese and lentil lasagna noodles that was absolutely delicious! Check out that recipe here! But for those of you who can enjoy dairy, I wanted to share my recipe for a classic lasagna that I’ve been making for my kiddos for some time now. Both of them have no issues with dairy, thankfully, so they eat their fare share of cow’s milk products, and boy oh boy do they love cheese! Of course we make everything in our house now gluten free, so while this recipe calls for gluten-free brown rice lasagna noodles, you can certainly swap these out for traditional semolina wheat pasta.

I keep this recipe fairly simple by using jarred organic marinara sauce, but if you have the time to make homemade marinara, by all means use that instead. As I mentioned in a few of my other posts, we love the Whole Foods brand of organic marinara or tomato basil sauces. Both taste exactly the same, and strangely contain the same exact ingredients, so I’m not quiet sure what is the difference between the two….if you happen to discern something here, please let me know! I am curious! We also like the Paesana brand of organic tomato basil sauce. Whatever sauce you choose, just ensure there is no sugar added, so gums or citric acid, and no industrial oils, like canola oil or sunflower oil or safflower oil (in other words if the oil in the sauce isn’t extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil, put it back on the shelf).

I like to use all organic cheeses, if I can find them on sale – ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan. It’s much harder to find organic Parmesan cheese, so I don’t always buy organic here, but that’s okay. And I really like the Jovial pasta brown rice lasagna noodles. They tend to hold up well in the lasagna, even when I pre-assemble the lasagna the day before. And the best part here, the noodles require no pre-cooking, which makes this dish even simpler to make! I bake the lasagna covered for about one to one-and-a-half hours, then I uncover it and add a top layer of mozzarella cheese and allow it to bake for another 30-40 minutes. Finally at the end, I finish it off by broiling the top for about 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese gets nice and bubbly. Serve this hearty dish with a side of green beans or a tossed salad for a complete meal your family will gobble up, and maybe even ask for more!

Gluten-free lasagna

1 box Jovial brown rice lasagna noodles
8 oz. organic ricotta cheese
4 oz. grated Parmesan cheese
2 (16 oz.) jars organic marinara sauce, such as Whole Foods brand or Paesana Organic tomato basil sauce
2 cups frozen organic spinach
8 oz. organic mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
salt and black pepper, to taste
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. granulated garlic
1 tsp. granulated onion
pinch of nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta cheese with grated Parmesan cheese, frozen spinach (no need to defrost), salt and black pepper, dried oregano, nutmeg, granulated garlic and onion. Add in about 1/4 -1/2 cup of the marinara sauce. Next, assemble the lasagna. In a large rectangle glass baking dish, pour about 1/2 to 1 cup of marinara sauce on the bottom. Layer down four lasagna noodle sheets on top of the sauce. Spread about half of the ricotta cheese mixture evenly over the noodles, then pour over about 1/2 to 1 cup more marinara sauce and gently spread this over the ricotta. Top with another four lasagna noodles, slightly overlapping if need be to fit. Then add the rest of the ricotta mixture and spread evenly across the noodles. Top with more sauce and spread evenly. Finally, layer on the remaining lasagna noodles and then pour the rest of the sauce all on top of the noodles, spreading evenly to cover all the noodles. Cover the lasagna with foil and bake at 350F for 1-1.5 hours. Then remove the foil and top with the thinly sliced mozzarella cheese. Allow the lasagna to bake uncovered with the cheese on top like this for at least 30-40 minutes. Finally, right before serving, turn the broiler on high and broil the lasagna for 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese is slightly browned and bubbly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting, or else all the cheese will just ooze out. Serve with a side of green beans or a side salad. Enjoy!