Eggplant Parmesan

Share

Gluten-free Eggplant Parmesan

Day One of the October Unprocessed/Gluten Free Woodman Household Challenge. So far so good, they family were mostly concerned about what they couldn’t eat, rather than focusing on what they could eat. I think that’s the panic that sets in with everybody. When I first found out, 7 years ago, that my 4 year old could no longer eat gluten and cow dairy (goat and sheep is fine!), part of me panicked…No macaroni and cheese? No pizza? No birthday cake? No milk? No ice cream? What kind of life is that for a 4 year old?

But a mom’s gotta do what she’s gotta do. It helped that daddy would be eating all the same food too. I made my usual macaroni and cheese recipe, substituting evaporated goat’s milk for the evaporated regular milk and the cheese? Sheep or goat’s cheese. I subbed brown rice pasta for the wheat pasta and voila’ gluten free/cow free macaroni and cheese!

My friends sometimes tease me because we’ve never had pizza delivered to our house…well, Sophie is the main reason! I had to make my pizza with goat or sheep’s cheese, so homemade it is/was.

Instead of focusing on what you can’t eat, focus on what you can eat! Chicken, beef, fish, pork, all veggies and fruits, oats (as long as they are certified gluten free, because sometimes they share equipment with wheat), quinoa, corn, rice, dairy, nuts, dried fruit (it tastes like candy), dark chocolate, wine! Am I missing anything? Since wheat is a appetite stimulant, eating wheat makes you hungry for more wheat. Since eliminating it from my diet, I’m almost never hungry. When I started cooking this version of Eggplant Parmesan, Sophie said, “are you mad at dad?” (Spencer hates eggplant. It’s a texture thing.) When he came home, Sophie said, “Daaad, you’re not going to like this….It’s eggplant!” Blah, blah, blah. I knew he’d probably might like it. Ok, so I took a chance.

He ate the first bite tentatively…and then another, and another. He liked it well enough to have seconds! Last night was leftover night, grilled chicken, soup, and a couple remaining servings of the eggplant. Spencer opted for the eggplant! You just never know.

I adapted this from the Three-Cheese Eggplant recipe in Wheat Belly. I added a mere 8 ounces of ground turkey to my sauce, a teaspoon of fennel seeds gives the ground turkey an Italian sausage flavor, but you could leave the meat out for a vegetarian version. I also added 1/2 lb. of sliced mushrooms, just because.

Eggplant Parmesan makes 6 generous entree portions or 8-10 side portions

1 eggplant, cut crosswise into 1/2 inch-thick slices

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 to 3 cloves of garlic, minced

3 to 4 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes

4 to 6 cups of fresh spinach leaves

1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced

1/2 lb. ground turkey

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon chopped oregano

3 cups marinara sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzerella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

fresh basil leaves, chopped or chiffonade (One Minute Food Byte how to chiffonade basil)

Preheat oven to 325*

1. Place eggplant slices in a baking dish. Brush both sides of the slices with the olive oil, reserving  about 2 tablespoons. Bake eggplant for 20 minutes. Remove the eggplant from the oven, but leave the oven on.
2. Heat remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add chopped onions and sauté for a couple of minutes, add ground turkey, sliced mushrooms, garlic and fennel seeds and continue cooking until meat in cooked through. Add spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and seasonings and cook just until spinach is wilted. Add marinara to pan and taste for seasoning.
3. Mix ricotta and  1 cup of the mozzarella cheese together in a bowl.
4. Mix remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella and parmesan cheeses together.
5. In a 13 X 9″ baking dish, layer eggplant slices to cover bottom of dish. Top with 1/2 of the sauce, dollops of cheese mixture. Top with a second layer of eggplant slices and repeat. Finish with remaining sauce and sprinkle with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.
6. Bake, uncovered at 325* F. until bubbling and cheese is melted, about 30 minutes. Garnish with chopped basil.

Print PDF

Share