I love lasagne but don’t make it much. When you have to omit gluten, dairy and nightshades from your diet, a lasagne isn’t the ideal meal to make. That said, I’m never one to shy away from a challenge and have managed to make one that works well. It uses a nomato sauce instead of tomatoes and a cashew cream to replace the bechamel.
Here, I’m sharing another version of a gluten, dairy and nightshade free lasagne. This one is the easiest lasagne I’ve ever made. At the moment, I’m busy with work and in between I’m trying to write a novel as a participant of National Novel Writing Month. So, I haven’t got a great deal of time to be cooking elaborate meals. I need quick and convenience, but it has to be healthy too.

That’s why I’m relying heavily on my slow cooker this week. I’ve never cooked a lasagne in one before though, so I was keeping everything crossed that it would work. You don’t want to come home from a day at the office thinking that dinner is taken care of only to find out that it’s a disaster do you?

Well, I can categorically say that this was the opposite of disaster. I would even go so far as to say that it reminded me of the lasagne my daughter had last week when we were in Italy! That’s because authentic Italian lasagne is drier than what we might be used to. That doesn’t make it any less tasty though, especially as it had been slow cooking all day long, so it was flavour-packed.

With a little bit of prep the night before, I was able to assemble this lasagne in around five minutes before I left for work and all I needed to do when I got home was steam some veg to go with it. Who says the slow cooker is only good for casseroles?
No pre-cooking required, just assemble and leave the slow cooker to do it's job. This tasty lasagne is a winner all round. This recipe is also gluten, dairy and nightshade free but you'd never know!
Servings |
Prep Time |
4 |
10 minutes |
Servings |
Prep Time |
4 |
10 minutes |
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|
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No pre-cooking required, just assemble and leave the slow cooker to do it's job. This tasty lasagne is a winner all round. This recipe is also gluten, dairy and nightshade free but you'd never know!
Servings |
Prep Time |
4 |
10 minutes |
Servings |
Prep Time |
4 |
10 minutes |
|
|
|
Instructions
Mix the nomato sauce with the water and add the minced beef and dried herbs. Mix thoroughly (I prepared this the night before and stored it in the fridge).
Spoon a little of this mixture on to the bottom of the slow cooker pot, to just cover it.
Add enough lasagne sheets to cover the sauce (you may have to break some up to fit)
Spoon half the remaining meat mixture on to the lasagne sheets.
Cover this layer of mince with another layer of lasagne sheets.
Add the remaining meat mixture and cover once more with lasagne sheets.
Whisk the eggs and add the yoghurt, whisking again until fully incorporated.
Pour this mix on to the top of the lasagne sheets and sprinkle on the parmesan (or alternative).
Put the slow cooker on a low heat and leave for at least 7 hours.
I love Italian food and in particular it’s versatility. Having said that, I can only buy gluten free pasta these days and being nightshade intolerant, I’m limited to tomato free sauces. Then for a change the other day, I bought some gnocchi for my daughters and served it up with a cheese sauce. I was so envious. Those little potato dumplings, so simple and yet so satisfying, are beyond my reach now.
That doesn’t mean to say that I can’t become inventive and make my own though does it? Avoiding potatoes isn’t a big deal when you can use sweet potatoes instead, I thought. Not related in the slightest, means that sweet potatoes are a perfect substitution for ordinary white potatoes for anyone following a nightshade free diet.
So, I had the idea of trying out sweet potato in a gnocchi recipe and then I wondered what to use as a replacement for the flour in order to make it gluten free too. I don’t use rice flour and I thought that buckwheat and chickpea flour might be too strong in flavour and would clash with the sweetness of the potato. Then I stumbled across chestnut flour. Having never used it before I was intrigued and the idea of chestnut and sweet potato together seemed like a good combination to me, so off I went.

I wasn’t wrong on the flavour choices. These little dumplings, together with homemade pesto, made a truly scrumptious dinner that satisfied my craving for gnocchi. They were so simple to make and are a great alternative to pasta too.



Sweet Potato and Chestnut Gnocchi
A sweet and nutty combination to give little gnocchi dumplings that are bursting with flavour
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Sweet Potato and Chestnut Gnocchi
A sweet and nutty combination to give little gnocchi dumplings that are bursting with flavour
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Instructions
Add a good pinch of salt to the mashed sweet potato
Beat the eggs, then add to the mash, followed by the flour
Mix to form a smooth dough
Cover a surface with the flour
Take half of the dough and roll into a sausage shape, about 2 cm in diameter. Then cut into 2 cm pieces and set to one side
Repeat with the other half
Add to a pan of boiling salted water and cook for around 5 minutes, or until the gnocchi floats to the top
Remove from the pan and serve with a sauce of your choice
Recipe Notes
I served this gnocchi with homemade pesto, along with some mozzarella pearls (for my non-dairy free girls). Grate over some dairy free or lactose free cheese (if you can tolerate this).
