In my desperate attempt to stay on The FreeDiet™  (free of dairy, grains, yeast, sugar and more),  I created this amazing pesto WITHOUT cheese!  I didn’t think it was possible but I have to say I feel very accomplished to have created this recipe!

Mostly, for selfish reasons this was perfected and “madeover” after a week of eating super clean and following my doctor’s orders {wink}, I was craving Italian and that meant cheese!  Now mind you, I don’t eat dairy daily but a few times a week I enjoy grass-fed yogurt, butter or cheese.

Since I have eliminated dairy from my diet, I have noticed in the morning I don’t have the itchy-like sniffles and the tissue box is full!  It wasn’t like I had a stuffy nose or even that lovely thing called mucus lurking but it was this annoying need to grab a tissue and blow my sniffer clean.

So my smeller isn’t the only thing I noticed is happier but my tummy isn’t bloated!!  Darn, dairy was the culprit of a few of my symptoms {I shared in this post}. I could weep because I so adore the many types of cheese in all it’s glory, sheep, goat, brie,  asiago, feta, and cheddar.  And there is that blue one I don’t eat; it is the one that makes my nose turn up.

The red sauce and cheese was for my daughter but have no fear I was super satisfied with my Paleo Pesto Eggplant!

In my first attempt to make these, I realized it is best to scoop out more of the eggplant; unlike what you see in this picture. Careful not to scoop too much so your boat doesn’t collapse. They will oxidize (the brown color) after cutting so if that bothers you, squeeze lemon and rub the coconut oil on before you bake. Not that you will see it after you fill them and bake.

Pesto Eggplant Madeover {paleo, dairy, gluten, free}

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

Author: Dawn Rofrano

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 2 large ripe eggplants
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1½ lbs grass-fed beef
• 1 tbsp. Italian spices
• 1 tsp ground onion
• ⅛ tsp ground garlic
• Pesto:
• 4 full sprigs basil (more the merrier)
• 1 cup soaked walnuts
• 2 large lemons juice
• ¾ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup frozen spinach
• 1 tbsp dried Italian spices
• ⅛ tsp ground garlic
• or 4 steamed garlic cloves
• 1½ tsp pink Himalayan sea salt
• Free diet approved read notes
• optional:
• 4 drops oregano oil
• or fresh handful fresh chopped oregano

Instructions

1. Cut eggplant top to bottom length wise so you have two halves like a boat.
2. Score the flesh into cubes without going through to skin and scoop out.
3. Put cubes in a food processor or chop finer so it will cook evenly with meat. Set aside.
4. Brush the eggplant boats with coconut oil and a dash of salt.
5. Bake boats on cookie sheet for 20 min. in a 350 oven.
6. In a large frying pan on low-medium cook meat,eggplant and mix in all spices.
7. Cook the blend slightly under done, drain juice from mixture and set aside.
8. To make pesto add all ingredients in food processor or strong blender until creamy.
9. Assemble your boat: Mix ¼ cup pesto or tad more in meat and eggplant mixture.
10. Fill boats with meat mixture and top with pesto.
11. Bake in 350 oven for 15 minutes and top with more pesto if desired.

Notes

If time is of the essence you can use cashews and just soak them up to an hour verses soaking the walnuts 4-6 hours. If dairy is not an issue you can add cheese but truthfully, it has so much flavor with the pesto. Chopping the eggplant fine is key to it cooking thoroughly. Also, scraping the extra eggplant from the boats will help it cook better. Careful not to scrape too hard and break skin. For Free-Diet approved pesto omit the spinach and use ¼ cup steamed kale. I use the greens for extra nutrition, color and as a thickener but you can just add few extra soaked nuts. Please use organic ingredients where you can.

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With a Spoonful of Health,

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