Found this tasty IC friendly recipe at http://www.cookingforinterstitialcystitis.com/

Found this tasty IC friendly recipe at http://www.cookingforinterstitialcystitis.com/

Squash Sauce Lasagna

I'm back and with a amazing first recipe for you all.

We are having friends over for the first time in our new place so I wanted to make something really special. I also wanted to do something really nice for my first blog post after all the upheaval of the past several months. Here is a labor intensive version of Nomato Lasagna. This takes time, and money. I think it cost me almost $25 everything. If I didn't have all these allergies I would still want to eat this lasagna, this doesn't taste like a crappy replacement for sure!

Time: Several hours
Cost: lots
Taste: Amazing!

Ingredients:

• 1 acorn squash
• 3 carrots
• 1 onion finely diced
• Two packages of ground meat. I used beef and pork
• 2 cups of red wine (optional)
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• Assorted herbs: I did about 1 tablespoon of dried basil, 1 teaspoon of oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• Lasagna
• Ricotta
• Mozzarella grated
• 2 eggs
• Large bunch of kale tough stems removed

Directions:

• Struggle for about 10 minutes trying to cut the squash in half. Remove the seeds. I have a few tips for this. 
• Get husband/boyfriend/father/ or someone with good hands to do it. It will save you time and make them feel useful and increase their self esteem.
• Use a really big sharp knife
• Cut off the bottom of the squash so that it sits easily on the cutting board. Use the grooves of the squash to your advantage
• Roast in the oven at 450 deg in a pan with about an inch of water in it, flesh side down. This should take about 45 minutes. You will know its done when the top skin is soft and easily poked with a fork. Don't take them out until they are ready because it will just make it harder to get the flesh out
• Get a large dutch oven and start frying the onions, garlic, ground meat, spices. Once it has cooked for about 10 minutes add the wine.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil blanching the kale for about 1 minute, you may need to do this in batches. After blanching wash the kale in cold water, then squeeze the excess water out of it. Chop the kale into bite sized pieces, blend with the two eggs and set aside.
• Using the same pot of water toss in the carrots and boil until they are soft
• Puree the carrots and squash in a food processor or blender. If it is too dry to puree add some cooking water from the carrots and kale. Add into the meat. Let this cook for about half an hour so that all the flavours come together.
• Bring another pot of water to a boil, cook the lasagna noodles 2 minutes less that instructed
• Layer your lasagna: Pasta, sauce, pasta, kale, ricotta, pasta, sauce, cheese. Or something like that. You can add in extra layers of cheese, or sauce, or whatever you like!
• Get your guests to bring the salad.