Lasagna Recipe

This recipe is primal if you use goat cheese (optional), and paleo without any goat cheese added. Adding the meat is also optional – just substitute additional veggies for a delicious vegetarian or vegan meal.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled and thinly sliced (see notes below)
• 2 pounds ground beef or venison
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large green pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms (portabella, shitake, etc.)
• 5 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon dried or fresh oregano
• 32 ounces marinara sauce, homemade or paleo/primal-approved
• 16 ounces soft goat cheese, crumbled (optional)
• sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a large pan, combine beef or venison with onion, green pepper and mushrooms. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until meat is browned and vegetables are soft. Add garlic, oregano, sea salt and pepper, stir and remove from heat. 
3. Add marinara sauce to the meat/vegetable mixture and stir to combine. Set aside. ( Ineskohl.info)
   
4. Carefully cut butternut squash in half width-wise, separating the round, bulb end from the long skinny end. Stand the long end up on the freshly cut side, and using a sharp knife, carefully slice away the outer skin (see photos below).
5. Slice into four manageable pieces, and start slicing off thin pieces. These are your lasagna “noodles.”
6. I like to use my trusty spiral vegetable slicer to slice thin butternut squash “chips.” This machine is AMAZING.
7. In a 9×13″ pan, spread a small cup of sauce on the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking.
8. Take 1/3 of the butternut “noodles” and spread them on top of the sauce in the pan so they form a thin layer.
9. Cover the butternut layer with 1/2 of the goat cheese crumbles (optional).
10. Cover the goat cheese layer with 1/2 of the remaining meat sauce.
11. Repeat, layering butternut, goat cheese, and sauce. 
12. Top with remaining butternut squash in a thin layer. Use a broad flat spoon to squish lasagna down into the pan evenly. Bake for 45 minutes until lasagna is bubbling and the top layer of butternut squash is starting to brown.
13. Remove from oven, allow to cool at least 10 minutes before serving.
14. Enjoy!