phillie foodnatic: September 2012

Talk about an oxymoron! Creamy and dairy-free in the same title?! That's crazy talk...or is it? I wanted to try to make a roux completely dairy and gluten-free. This was my first time out and I have to say, I was really happy with the outcome! You can substitute any of my "strange" ingredients with typical, commonly-used foods, but I encourage you to use the almond milk! I feel it added a really good flavor to the whole dish. This dish gives me hope that I can still have great DF & GF comfort foods. I mean, lets get real, fall is knocking at our door!

What you need:

3 tbs smart balance or butter of choice
3 tbs potato starch flour (regular flour is fine as well)
2 c. almond milk or milk of choice
1 c. chicken broth
salt and pepper
turkey sausage
3 cloves garlic
lasagna noodles (I used gluten-free, no boil noodles)
2 tomatoes
20-25 basil leaves
Mozzarella (I used daiya dairy-free cheese)

Start by melting your choice of butter in a sauce pan.

When melted, add in the potato flour and stir to combine. Cook for about a minute, stirring constantly.

Add in the milk, a little at a time, whisking in between each addition. This will avoid clumping of the butter/flour mix.

Add in the chicken broth and whisk to combine. Add in salt and pepper, reduce heat to low and let simmer while you prep the rest of the lasagna.

Remove the turkey sausage from it's casing, crumble and brown over medium-high heat.

When meat is browned, add in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

While the turkey is getting happy in the pan, slice the tomatoes very thin.

The cream sauce should be nice and thick now.

Now, we can start assembling our lasagna! Begin by putting a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of your casserole dish.

Top with a layer of noodles. Note: If you are using noodles that need to be cooked first, cook them al dente, since they will cook longer in the oven. Also, start cooking the noodles when you start the cream sauce.