Robert Irvine's Secret Ingredient Swap For A Healthier Lasagna

Celebrity chef Robert Irvine — known for shows such as "Dinner: Impossible" and "Restaurant: Impossible" — makes homemade lasagna slightly differently than the traditional way. In fact, he has a go-to ingredient swap that makes it a bit healthier. Irvine spoke to Daily Meal at the New York City Wine & Food Festival, telling us all about this healthier lasagna. The swap? Thinly sliced plantains in place of the typical lasagna sheets.

Irvine recommends green plantains in particular for this dish, adding that he thinks the plantain not only holds better as a dish but also has the added perk of being healthier. "Lasagna is very carby. The plantain isn't," he told us, adding, "The starch in the plantain seals the lasagna way better. It's amazing."

Plantain lasagna is actually a common Puerto Rican dish known as pastelón. The elements of the pastelón differ, but some common ingredients include ground beef, onion, olives, green beans, cheese, and a Puerto Rican bell pepper called picadillo.

If you trust Robert Irvine's judgment, you may want to try plantain lasagna at home. The best part? You can customize it to your liking. If you want to try out a traditional Puerto Rican pastelón, there are plenty of recipes for you to go off of. But you can also just make lasagna as you normally would, with the plantains as the only differing detail.

Follow Irvine's lead with this dish; since the plantains are already making it a little bit more nutritious, you can use the opportunity to make the whole dish a lighter, healthier version of traditional lasagna. For example, how about packing the dish full of vegetables? Drop in the ingredients for a roasted vegetable lasagna — just swap out the lasagna sheets for plantain slices. Or, if you want to add meat, you can opt for something leaner than beef, such as ground turkey — just make sure to avoid the most common mistakes people make when cooking with ground turkey.