Bolognese "Nosagna" with Spring Vegetables

Pasta for me is like crack. Just one hit and I take a very treacherous tumble into carb addiction relapse. Trust me its not pretty. So I've trained myself to stay far far far away from Lasagna of any time. But one thing I can't get away from is the Italian meat sauce called Bolognese Sauce. Ragu all Bolognese in Italian is a meat-based sauce for pasta originating in Bologna, Italy. Bolognese sauce is sometimes taken to be a tomato sauce, but authentic recipes have only a small amount of tomato concentrate. Given my self imposed 12 step program to stay away from pasta, I am always trying to other ways to enjoy Bolognese without just sitting around eating a bowl of meat sauce (cuz let's face it that either sounds dirty or just plain sad). This "NoSagna" (just so we are clear there is no pasta to be found) sort of just happened after a series of random events including a spur of the moment trip to the natural food market to get some spring time vegetables and a random late night craving for Bolognese. As a disclaimer, I will in no way profess that this recipe is anything more than good. I happen to be friends with a very particular meat sauce snob and I am sure there are zillions more out there so I would not even dare claim that this meat sauce is in any way great, amazing or authentic. Ok now that that is out of the way let's get down to business.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1 lb ground beef sirloin 90/10 *For a richer tasting meat sauce use ground beef and ground pork or use a beef with a little more fat content

4 minced garlic cloves

2 tsp dried oregano

Dash of red chili flakes

1/2 oz of dried porcini mushrooms

1/2 medium white onion finely chopped

1 celery stalk finely chopped

6 baby carrots finely chopped

Dash of crushed dried bay leaf *Can use a whole bay leaf instead but remember to take it out before serving otherwise the flavor will be overpowering

1 tsp dried rosemary

2 cups unsweetened original almond milk *Can use non fat milk or nondairy milk of your choice but remember to make sure its unsweetened and original flavor PERSONAL NOTE: This time I accidentally used sweetened original flavor almond milk...It wasn’t a total failure, the sweetness added an interesting and tasty dimension to the sauce

1 can (28 oz) peeled whole tomatoes

2 cups dry red wine

½ tsp sea salt

¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper

2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

2 Green Zucchini

1 Italian Eggplant

1 cup fat free Mozzerella

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a skillet on high heat. Add the ground meat and sauté breaking up the meat into crumbles as it cooks. Add in minced garlic, oregano, and red chili flakes.

While that cooks reconstitute the porcini mushrooms in hot water for 10-15 minutes. Drain and coarsely chop the mushrooms. Puree the mushrooms, onion, celery and carrots in a food processor.

Add in the vegetable puree to the meat and add bay leaf and rosemary. Add in the almond milk and simmer until the liquid evaporates.

Carefully pour in the tomatoes and red wine.

Stir until completely blended and simmer until some of the liquid evaporates. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring sauce to a boil.

Spray a baking or casserole dish with cooking spray. Dust surface with the grated parmesan.

Using a vegetable peeler, peel half a zucchini (so it looks like thin strips of the pasta) and line the bottom of the dish as you would lasagna. Sprinkle ½ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.

Cube the rest of the zucchini and eggplant and place in the dish. Pour sauce over the vegetables. Spread a second layer of mozzarella (using the second half cup). Bake in the oven for 45 min until cheese is melted and slightly golden.

Serve with shaved Romano on top and a pinch of nutmeg.

Nutritional Facts: Makes 6 Servings. Per serving:

Calories 313; grams 435; fat 12g; saturated fat 3g; protein 25g; carbs 20.5g; fiber 7; sugar 13g; sodium 343 mg