Quinoa Lasagna

As I venture into my this new life without refined or bleached flour anything - I have to come and substitute something for my pasta fixation. I'm Italian and I love pasta it was a staple for me growing up, but I can't eat it anymore and I don't love the taste, texture, or price of the whole wheat pasta that my pouch likes. Quinoa does make a pasta, but again I don't love it, but I do love quinoa. So I go to thinking today at work why not make a deconstructed pasta.

Recipe:

1/2 lb ground chuck (lean)

1 can of diced tomatoes seasoned as you like

3 tbsp low fat ricotta cheese

1/2 cup of low fat mozzarella shredded cheese

1/4 cup of cooked quinoa 

Step 1 - brown the ground chuck I brown mine with minced onion, garlic, and pepper

Step 2 - create the sauce - diced tomatoes seasoned with oregano, garlic, onion, pepper

Step 3 - cook the quinoa

Step 4 - prep the pan - this is one of my new mini pyrex for baking

Step 5 - ground beef on the bottom of the pan after you spray it with pam

Step 6 - mix ricotta with diced tomatoes, layer on top of the ground chuck

Step 7 -  add layer of shredded cheese on top of the tomatoes

Step 8 - put cooked quinoa on top of the tomatoes and add more shredded cheese on top

Step 9 - bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melty

Overall I loved the texture of this. I had extra sauce and I definitely add sauce to this as I like a saucy lasagna. I ate about 1/4 of this for dinner and ended up taking my pretty plate and putting it all in a bowl with extra sauce on top. I think it will taste even better tomorrow!