Sneaky Lasagna - Cow's Milk Free

So, this is another chapter in the epic "How to get more protein in my kids without them knowing it" saga. You can use the sauce for any dish that calls for marinara sauce - it's tasty!

1 32 oz jar of organic spaghetti sauce (I get mine at Costco and love it)
1 can of red beans
1 10 oz container of frozen spinach - thawed and drained (not squeezed)
8 oz organic tomato sauce
Salt and/or pepper to taste
1 lb of firm tofu
2 eggs
2 tbsp rice flour
1 large onion
1 tsp minced garlic
olive oil
1 lb ground turkey or chicken sausage
1/2 lb haloumi cheese (made from sheep milk)
1/2 lb romano pecorino cheese (imported also made from sheep milk)
1 pkg gluten free lasagna noodles (I use DeBoles rice lasagna because it's readily available)

Sauce: Puree your beans and spinach with the tomato sauce, adding spaghetti sauce slowly. Once it's all smooth, you can set all the sauce aside. Add salt and pepper to taste if you like.

Tofu: Press tofu between 2 plates lined with paper towel. Put a heavy book on the top plate to get a good squeeze on the tofu. Let it sit there for about 20 minutes. In a large bowl, beat the two eggs and add the rice flour. Mash in the squeezed tofu and mix all together.

Meat: Dice onion. Add olive oil to a skillet and saute onions and garlic until onions get a little browned. Add sausage and cook thoroughly. Add your sauce mixture to the cooked meat mixture.

While Meat is cooking, bring a big pot of water to a boil, add a little salt to season pasta. Cook noodles about 5 minutes - they will still be firm but pliable. That's fine - they will cook more in the oven. Rinse with cold water in a colander so you can handle them.

Cheese: Shred your cheeses and set aside. A word about sheep cheese - yes, they do contain casein. However, I am allergic to cow's milk and these cheeses do not cause a reaction in my body. My children react behaviorally to cow's milk products and the sheep cheese does not cause a reaction in them either. You can try it as a delicious alternative to cow's cheese and/or non-dairy cheeses.

Assembly: Line your 9x12 inch lasagna pan with some sauce. Lay 1/3 of your noodles over top of sauce. Put more sauce over your noodles. Spread 1/2 of your tofu mixture over top of the sauce. Lay down another 1/3 of your noodles, more sauce, and the rest of the tofu mixture. Lay down the remaining 1/3 of the noodles, the rest of the sauce, and the cheese as the top layer. Cover with foil. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes.

This is super yummy and protein packed. My kids devour this every time I make it - even my picky guy who doesn't like his food touching loves this recipe. Happy eating!!