GardenCuizine: Lasagna

Sunday, January 4, 2026

Diana's 3-cheese, Gluten Free, Sicilian Lasagna

Gluten Free Lasagna

As you may have seen in previous posts, we always make lasagna for Christmas dinner! Mom started this family tradition ever since I can remember. We continue it to this day. RIP mom! The past few years we started making a gluten free (GF) version, which is good enough for company. In my opinion, you can't taste any difference. If you have a friend or family member who needs GF options, this recipe is a winner!

This year we used Barilla, no cook, oven ready, gluten free noodles that are made with corn and brown rice flour. The taste was great. The main recipe differences between my regular lasagna and GF lasagna are that no pre-cooking, oven-ready, GF noodles is necessary, oven-ready GF noodles need sauce on both sides of the noodles, and all exposed noodles need to be covered with sauce.

This recipe is different than what is on the Barilla box and very similar to my regular Sicilian Christmas lasagna recipe. We baked the lasagna at 350 deg. F vs 425 deg. F. as suggested on the Barilla package label. Below is my GardenCuizine recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.
Set aside a 13 x 9 x 2-inch Pyrex baking dish

Ingredients

1 box Barilla, no cook, oven ready, gluten-free lasagne

Meat blend

1 lb lean ground beef (Mom used to blend with Italian sausage. For vegetarian, use boca crumbles)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
black pepper
drizzle olive oil

Ricotta blend

1, 32 oz whole milk Ricotta

1 1/2 cups shredded low fat mozzarella

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

2 large eggs, whisked

1 Tblsp. chopped fresh parsley

1/8 tsp. fresh grated or ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp. salt

Sauce

1 large jar pasta sauce or your own homemade sauce
3-4 bay leaves (not edible! remove before serving)
1/2 tsp oregano

Topping

1 cup or so shredded mozzarella cheese
1/8 cup Parmesan cheese
Chopped fresh parsley (believe it or not we still had some growing in a pot on our front porch!)

Putting it all together

Warm up the sauce in a pot. Stir in bay leaves and oregano. Keep covered on low heat.
In a large skillet, add a drizzle of olive oil and saute the onion add garlic; stir; cook until golden; remove from the skillet to a plate or bowl.
In the same skillet, cook the ground meat, season with black pepper. Remove from heat. Drain any grease.
Stir in the cooked aromatics (onion and garlic).
In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, whisked eggs, nutmeg, salt, set aside.

Prepare your baking dish with a bottom layer of red sauce.
Place a layer of noodles on top of the sauce.
Add a little more sauce on top of the noodles (both sides must have sauce to soften and cook properly).
Scoop small balls of Ricotta, about 3 scoops per noodle. (We use a 2 oz scoop)
Top with a layer of cooked ground meat.

Repeat - sauce - noodles - sauce - ricotta - meat
sauce - noodles - sauce
Top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

Note: if you have leftover ricotta, which we always do, make another small serving to freeze uncooked and cook at a later date.

Cover with aluminum foil, try not to touch the top of the sauce with the foil. Bake at 350 deg F. about 40 minutes. Remove foil and cook uncovered another 15 min or until top is golden brown. Remove from oven. Let sit 5-10 minutes before serving.

Buon Appetito!

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Christmas Lasagna #Sicilian #Dinnerisready #GardenCuizine #holidayrecipe

Christmas Lasagna

Mom didn't cook much, but she always made us lasagna at Christmas. Last year we made lasagna for Christmas and enjoyed it. This year we made it again and declared lasagna our official Christmas dinner entree!

Here is my version of Mom's Christmas Lasagna recipe. I may adjust this the next time I make it, so do check back.

Note: if you are vegetarian, you can sub Boca burger crumbles for the ground beef. And, if you are vegan, simply swap the ricotta with firm tofu, omit the eggs and use soy cheeses.

Ingredients
1 lb. Ground beef (or half beef, half Italian sausage; or for Vegetarian use Boca burgers crumbled)
1 med Onion, chopped
Garlic, 2 cloves chopped

pot of boiling water
9 lasagna noodles
Homemade pasta sauce (make in advance and freeze in quarts for convenience)

1, 32 oz container ricotta cheese (lately we've been using whole milk ricotta)
2 large eggs, whisked
1 1/2 cups (plus another cup for topping) shredded mozzarella
1/4-cup (plus another 1/8 cup for topping) Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (about 3 twists)
pinch ground nutmeg (5 swipes fresh on rasp)
1 1/2 Tablespoons dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon oregano

Putting it all together
Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
Set aside a 13 x 9 x 2-inch Pyrex baking dish

Saute onion and garlic; stir in the ground beef and cook. (*Mom would include ground Italian sausage too) Drain fat and set aside.
Warm up pasta sauce in a sauce pan; cover and set aside.
In a bowl, using a rubber spatula, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1 T parsley and eggs
Cook lasagna noodles al'dente; rinse under cold water and set aside.
Spoon a layer of sauce on the bottom of baking dish
Place 3 noodles, side by side, over the sauce
Add a layer of blended cheese (I used a small scoop to portion it out and then pressed it down)
Add a layer of cooked ground beef
Top with a layer of sauce and repeat with another layer. Note: any leftover ricotta cheese can be saved for other recipes.
Top the final layer with sauce and sprinkle with additional shredded mozzarella and Parmesan and dried herbs: oregano and remaining parsley.
Cover with foil and bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove cover and cook another 10-15 minutes or until top layer of cheese is golden.
Leftovers can be frozen and reheated.

Serve with a tossed garden salad and/or a generous side of veggies like kale or broccoli rabe.

Our Christmas desserts this year included pumpkin pie and holiday cookies made with spices, pumpkin seeds and dried fruit. Hope your holiday was just as wonderful!