Why do we care more about bad things when we hate being in deep sauce? Let’s make a cauliflower lasagna and see what’s in the sauce!
Ingredients
Beginner
Pasta
For detailed instructions check out: How to rice cauliflower.
- 2 lb / 1000g Cauliflower
- 4 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Salt
- 1 lb / 500g Ground meat
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ lb / 250g Tomato sauce
Layering
- 1 lb / 500g Ricotta cheese
- 9 oz / 250g Mozzarella cheese (sliced or grated)
- 1 tablespoon Oregano
- 1 tablespoon Basil
Advanced
Pasta
For detailed instructions check out: How to rice cauliflower.
- 2 lb / 1000g Cauliflower
- 4 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Sauce
For detailed instructions check out: How to make Bolognese sauce
- 4 oz / 100g Bacon or pancetta (diced)
- 1 Onion (diced)
- 1 Carrot (diced)
- 2 Celery stalks (diced)
- 1 lb / 500g Ground beef
- 1/2 cup / 125ml Water or white wine
- 2 Tomatoes (diced)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 6 piece Black pepper (whole)
- 1/2 cup / 125ml Milk
- Pasta for serving
- Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for topping (or some other hard Italian cheese)
- ½ lb / 250g Tomato sauce (optional)
Layering
- 1 lb / 500g Ricotta cheese
- 9 oz / 250g Mozzarella cheese (sliced or grated)
- 1 tablespoon Oregano
- 1 tablespoon Basil
Kitchen equipment
- 8″ x 8″ / 20.5cm x 20.5cm Casserole dish
How to make Cauliflower lasagna
Beginner
Pasta
- Rice the cauliflower with a food processor or shredder. For detailed instructions check out: How to rice cauliflower.
- Cook the riced cauliflower in the microwave oven on maximum settings for 2 minutes, stir then put it back for 2 more minutes. Let it cool a bit and get ready for pressing the moisture out of it.
- Using a cheese cloth or simple kitchen towel, squeeze out as much moisture from the cauliflower as possible. From a small head (2lb / 1kg) cauliflower more than a cup can be squeezed out.
- In a bowl mix the squeezed cauliflowers with the eggs and a bit of salt.
- Spread the cauliflower dough into a parchment layered baking sheet. We need at least two layers of lasagna so choose a baking sheet that is at least double the size of our lasagna baking dish.
- Place it into a 400°F / 200°C preheated ovens bottom rack until golden brown spots start to appear here and there for about 20 minutes.
- Carefully take the cauliflower pasta out by the parchment paper and flip it upside down. They should be stuck pretty well together so we shouldn’t be worry about breaking it. Carefully peel off the paper from the cauliflower pasta and not the other way around.
- Cut it to the size of the lasagna dish.
Sauce
- At the same time we are processing the cauliflower pasta, pour some oil into a frying pan and saute the diced onion until it gets a glassy / translucent look for about 5 – 10 minutes.
- Add the ground meat and brown it.
- Add the tomato sauce and cook it until the tomato sauce water content reduced about at least a quarter. The whole process should take about 30 minutes.
Layering
- Slice the mozzarella up.
- Mix the ricotta with basil and oregano.
Assembly
- Once the sauce is done, divide it into two parts and spread one half onto the bottom of a casserole dish.
- Place a layer of cauliflower pasta on top.
- Spread half of the ricotta and place half of the mozzarella on top too.
- Repeat it again using up the the second half of the meat sauce, ricotta and mozzarella.
- Place the lasagna under the broiler on maximum temperature on the top shelf until golden brown spots start to appear on the mozzarella for about 10 minutes then it’s ready to be served.
Enjoy!
Advanced
Sauce (Bolognese)
- Render fat out from bacon, pancetta or any other type of pork fat that we can use as lardon. We can substitute it with a tablespoon of fat or cooking oil, as well. No harm would be done. Add onion, carrot and celery then saute with the bacon on high heat for about 5 minutes until the onion gets a slight translucent/glassy look.
- Add the ground meat. Mix it well with the vegetables then cook it for 10-15 minutes while stirring it often until all the bigger chunks fall into smaller pieces. At this point the beef should lose all its pinkness and browned properly.
- Add the water or wine, tomatoes, salt, black pepper and milk. Mix it well together, put the lid on and simmer it for 4 hours on low heat, stirring occasionally.
- For more detailed instructions for the filling, check out how to make Bolognese sauce a.k.a Ragu. If our patience is wearing thin then use pureed tomato and cook it only for about 30 minutes before getting it ready for layering.
Pasta
- Rice the cauliflower with a food processor or shredder. For detailed instructions check out: How to rice cauliflower.
- Cook the riced cauliflower in the microwave on maximum settings for 4 minutes, stirring it halfway through then using a cheese cloth or simple kitchen towel squeeze out as much moisture of the cauliflower as possible. From a small head (2lb / 1kg) cauliflower more than a cup can be squeezed out.
- In a bowl mix the squeezed cauliflowers with the eggs and a bit of salt.
- Spread the cauliflower dough into a parchment layered baking sheet.
- Place it into a 400°F / 200°C preheated oven’s bottom rack until golden brown spots start to appear here and there for about 20 minutes.
- Carefully take the cauliflower pasta out by the parchment paper and flip it upside down then peel off the parchment paper.
- Cut it to the size of the lasagna dish.
Assembly
- Once the sauce is done, divide it into two parts and spread one half onto the bottom of a casserole dish.
- Place a layer of cauliflower pasta on top. Spread half of the ricotta and place half of the mozzarella on top too then repeat the layering one more time.
- Place the lasagna under the broiler on maximum temperature on the top shelf until golden brown spots start to appear on the mozzarella for about 10 minutes then it’s ready to be served.
Enjoy!
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Cauliflower Lasagna Recipe
Why do we care more about bad things when we hate being in deep sauce? Let’s make a cauliflower lasagna and see what’s in the sauce!
Equipment
- 8″ x 8″ / 20.5cm x 20.5cm Casserole dish
Ingredients
Beginner
Pasta
- 2 lb Cauliflower
- 4 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Salt
- 1 lb Ground meat
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ lb Tomato sauce
Layering
- 1 lb Ricotta cheese
- 9 oz Mozzarella cheese sliced or grated
- 1 tablespoon Oregano
- 1 tablespoon Basil
Advanced
Pasta
- 2 lb Cauliflower
- 4 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Sauce (Bolognese)
- 4 oz Bacon or pancetta diced
- 1 Onion diced
- 1 Carrot diced
- 2 Celery stalks diced
- 1 lb Ground beef
- ½ cup Water or white wine
- 2 Tomatoes diced
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 6 piece Black pepper whole
- ½ cup Milk
- Pasta for serving
- Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for topping or some other hard Italian cheese
- ½ lb Tomato sauce optional
Layering
- 1 lb Ricotta cheese
- 9 oz Mozzarella cheese sliced or grated
- 1 tablespoon Oregano
- 1 tablespoon Basil
Instructions
Beginner
Pasta
- Rice the cauliflower with a food processor or shredder.
- Cook the riced cauliflower in the microwave oven on maximum settings for 2 minutes, stir then put it back for 2 more minutes. Let it cool a bit and get ready for pressing the moisture out of it.
- Using a cheese cloth or simple kitchen towel, squeeze out as much moisture from the cauliflower as possible. From a small head (2lb / 1kg) cauliflower more than a cup can be squeezed out.
- In a bowl mix the squeezed cauliflowers with the eggs and a bit of salt.
- Spread the cauliflower dough into a parchment layered baking sheet. We need at least two layers of lasagna so choose a baking sheet that is at least double the size of our lasagna baking dish.
- Place it into a 400°F / 200°C preheated ovens bottom rack until golden brown spots start to appear here and there for about 20 minutes.
- Carefully take the cauliflower pasta out by the parchment paper and flip it upside down. They should be stuck pretty well together so we shouldn’t be worry about breaking it. Carefully peel off the paper from the cauliflower pasta and not the other way around.
- Cut it to the size of the lasagna dish.
Sauce
- At the same time we are processing the cauliflower pasta, pour some oil into a frying pan and saute the diced onion until it gets a glassy / translucent look for about 5 – 10 minutes.
- Add the ground meat and brown it.
- Add the tomato sauce and cook it until the tomato sauce water content reduced about at least a quarter. The whole process should take about 30 minutes.
Layering
- Slice the mozzarella up.
- Mix the ricotta with basil and oregano.
Assembly
- Once the sauce is done, divide it into two parts and spread one half onto the bottom of a casserole dish.
- Place a layer of cauliflower pasta on top.
- Spread half of the ricotta and place half of the mozzarella on top too.
- Repeat it again using up the the second half of the meat sauce, ricotta and mozzarella.
- Place the lasagna under the broiler on maximum temperature on the top shelf until golden brown spots start to appear on the mozzarella for about 10 minutes then it’s ready to be served.
Advanced
Sauce (Bolognese)
- Render fat out from bacon, pancetta or any other type of pork fat that we can use as lardon. We can substitute it with a tablespoon of fat or cooking oil, as well. No harm would be done. Add onion, carrot and celery then saute with the bacon on high heat for about 5 minutes until the onion gets a slight translucent/glassy look.
- Add the ground meat. Mix it well with the vegetables then cook it for 10-15 minutes while stirring it often until all the bigger chunks fall into smaller pieces. At this point the beef should lose all its pinkness and browned properly.
- Add the water or wine, tomatoes, salt, black pepper and milk. Mix it well together, put the lid on and simmer it for 4 hours on low heat, stirring occasionally.
- For more detailed instructions for the filling, check out how to make Bolognese sauce a.k.a Ragu. If our patience is wearing thin then use pureed tomato and cook it only for about 30 minutes before getting it ready for layering.
Pasta
- Rice the cauliflower with a food processor or shredder. For detailed instructions check out: How to rice cauliflower.
- Cook the riced cauliflower in the microwave on maximum settings for 4 minutes, stirring it halfway through then using a cheese cloth or simple kitchen towel squeeze out as much moisture of the cauliflower as possible. From a small head (2lb / 1kg) cauliflower more than a cup can be squeezed out.
- In a bowl mix the squeezed cauliflowers with the eggs and a bit of salt.
- Spread the cauliflower dough into a parchment layered baking sheet.
- Place it into a 400°F / 200°C preheated oven’s bottom rack until golden brown spots start to appear here and there for about 20 minutes.
- Carefully take the cauliflower pasta out by the parchment paper and flip it upside down then peel off the parchment paper.
- Cut it to the size of the lasagna dish.
Assembly
- Once the sauce is done, divide it into two parts and spread one half onto the bottom of a casserole dish.
- Place a layer of cauliflower pasta on top. Spread half of the ricotta and place half of the mozzarella on top too then repeat the layering one more time.
- Place the lasagna under the broiler on maximum temperature on the top shelf until golden brown spots start to appear on the mozzarella for about 10 minutes then it’s ready to be served.
Notes
Enjoy!