Grain-Free Vegetable Lasagna

So this is an older recipe, kind of.  It’s one Matthew Kenney made up one night for dinner.  While I’ve made it several times, I haven’t recently.  But I did at one point document some of the production and thought I might as well share it with you, because it is good!  The last time I made this actually was for a small dinner party.

Here's the secret.  It's a lasagna, but the pasta is slices of butternut squash!  The layers include king oyster mushrooms, pistachio pesto, manchego.  The greens initially were broccoli rabe, but I later switched to broccolini.

Pasta:

Slices butternut squash into rectangles, about 1/4" thick.  At the time, they were coated in olive oil, however today, I'd use ghee.  Bake them in a preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.  Until they're soft, but not mushy.  Finish with salt and black pepper.

Broccolini:

You know, adjust your quantities to how many your serving.  I'm just giving you a basic run down so you can create your own version.  I blanched it, then dressed it in a little olive oil, lemon juice and salt.

Pesto:

Simple pesto.  I Cuisinarted basil, pistachios, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt until I got something that tasted good and had a nice consistency.

Mushrooms:

I sliced them in half, and marinated them in sesame oil, salt and a little lemon juice.  Then sautéed them to soften them up.

Once you have all the individual layers, assemble!  I also added a little manchego to the layering.  It keeps pretty well.  Usually I would leave them like this, and then Matthew would bake them when he was ready.  I'm guessing 350 for like 20-25 minutes or something like that.

I'm a big fan of this dish.  It's a great option for anyone wanting maintain a strong plant based diet.  It tastes great even for those who aren't!