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Lasagna Reg and Gluten Free



Every cook has some dishes that make her 'famous' among the people who are invited to eat around her table.  One of mine is my Lasagna.  I have a recipe given to me by a co-worker many years ago and the original recipe card is faded and discolored 
When I had to eliminate gluten from my diet (as well as for my daughter and granddaughter)  I was very relieved to find that my Lasagna recipe did not need to change.    All I had to do was exchange the wheat lasagna noodles for gluten-free ones and there is no perceivable difference in preparation or in the eating  of it !
My favorite gluten free lasagna noodles are the Kinnikinnick ones -- either regular or brown rice ones.  
If you are cooking dinner for someone who has Celiac or simply gluten/wheat restricted this is an easy meal to make .. all you have to do is buy the gf noodles. Serve it with a salad and dessert and everyone is happy!   

Meat Sauce 
  • 1 cup chopped onion 
  • 1/2 cup minced celery 
  • 1/4 cup oil 
  • 2 lbs ground lean beef 
  • 1 1/2 tbsp salt 
  • 2 - 28 oz tins of crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce (or one of each)  -- for gluten-free do NOT use tomato soup since it has flour in it ) 
  • 2- 6 oz tins of tomato paste 
  • 1/2 cup water 
  • 2 tsp sugar 
  • 1 tsp oregano 
  • 1 tbsp. parsley flakes 
  • 1 tsp black pepper 
  • 1/4 tsp garlic 
  1. In heavy roasting pan cook onions and celery in oil until cooked but not browned. 
  2. Add beef and cook stirring until meat is no longer pink. 
  3. Add remaining ingredients mixing well. 
  4. Cook covered in 325 degree oven for 2 1/2 - 3 hours  - it will be nice and thick. 
  5. Sauce can be used immediately or frozen in containers for future use.  
Lasagna  ( for a dish 13" x 9 1/2") 
  • 5 cups meat sauce 
  • 1 pkg lasagna noodles (wheat or gluten free) 
  • boiling salt water (if desired to pre soften noodles) 
  • 1 lb. cottage cheese (creamed) 
  • 1/2 lb. mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
  1. I don't precook my lasagna noodles but if you prefer to cook them, do so according to instructions on the box. 
  2. Spread 1/2 of noodles in baking dish. 
  3. Cover with half of the meat sauce. 
  4. Cover meat sauce with 1/2 of cottage cheese 
  5. Cover cottage cheese with 1/2 of mozzarella slices 
  6. Repeat layers with the remaining noodles,  meat sauce, cottage cheese, mozzarella slices 
  7. Cover lightly with a layer of tinfoil  and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.   

14 comments:

  1. Rather than heating the oven for several hours, would it work to leave the sauce in a slow cooker for the day?

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    1. Yes... sometimes I do put it into the slow cooker .. works great ! except I add less water.

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  2. The most splattered and discoloured recipe cards are the always the best recipes! This sounds like a winner. I like to substitute the pasta with egg plant slices too.

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  3. Looks wonderful! Do you have any suggestions on how I can make lasagne dairy free - we have 3 in our family that are lactose intolerant? Lasaagne is a favourite, but so hard on the body with all of that cheese!

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    1. I've never done this .. but what if you leave out the cottage cheese and use the soy based mozzarella cheese.

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    2. Anonymous, I have a daughter who can not have dairy, so I use lacetose free cheese or goat cheese with very good results.

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    3. Thanks so much for the suggestions...

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  4. I am intrigued by the idea of NOT cooking the lasagna noodles first. So if I leave them uncooked, they will get nice and soft during that 45 minutes in the oven while the whole thing is baking?

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    1. yes... I find they cook in the 'liquid' of the layers and get nice and soft. You can also buy the wheat noodles that are marked 'no-boil' , but not in the gluten free ones.
      I don't mind skipping the handling of 'slimy' noodles out of boiling water. Especially when no one seems to know the difference!

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    2. You must use a bigger pan than a 9x13. My pan would overflow if I used a whole box of noodles & that amount of sauce.

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    3. That size pan calls for 5 cups of meat sauce.... the meat sauce recipe is obviously larger than that but its so nice to freeze the extra and have it on hand for lasagna another day, or use it for spaghetti sauce. And you use as many noodles as you need to cover two layers.

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  5. I have never seen gf lasagna noodles, I will be on the lookout. I would swipe out the cottage cheese (which I hate) for ricotta cheese (true Italian ;-). I love no boil noodles, too. Haven't made my lasagna in ages but now I am getting in the mood for it. xo

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  6. In lieu of noodles, a good gluten free option is to take zucchini or chinese eggplant, and using a potato peeler, peel them lengthwise into strips like lasagne! MMmmm! You don't need to have a gluten sensitivity to enjoy it this way... :)

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    1. Plus no pre-cooking of the noodles is required! :)

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