Lasagna - Finally!

Resistance is futile.

I've been waiting and waiting and waiting to attempt vegan lasagna. Why? Because I'm picky as hell and I was scared that I'd never make one half as good as the old dairy version I used to make. My biggest fears revolved all around the dairy aspects: 1) I used ricotta in the old recipe, so I was scared to try tofu ricotta. 2) As much as I love Daiya, I was scared it just wouldn't be as good as real mozzarella in this dish. I'm pleased to announce that I am really excited with how this lasagna turned out. And, while it wasn't 100% like the original, it was still awesome all the way around. We loved it.

For this one, I did take some shortcuts as I was absolutely starving! I typically take the time to make my own marinara sauce, but this time I used a garden veggie jarred sauce. I also used the no-boil lasagna noodles. I probably won't use them again, as they just weren't the same. But, they were quite convenient. I also made some simple tvp "meat" for texture that resembled the meaty version most of us grew up with - the recipe is below somewhere.

Anyway, I did use tofu, which is something kind of rare in my kitchen. I have a long history of not enjoying tofu as much as your typical veg-head seems to. It's okay on occasion, but not something I can really get behind. I'm coming around, though. I altered this recipe to make the ricotta, and I'm pretty pleased with it overall. Here is my version of the recipe:

• 2/3 of a block of well-drained tofu (extra-firm)
• 1 1/2 TB tahini
• 1 1/2 TB lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 3 TB minced red onion
• 3 TB nooch (nutritional yeast)
• 1 1/2 tsp white miso
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 TB dried parsley
• some salt & pepper to your liking

 Throw everything into a food processor and pulse until well combined. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. How easy was that? Set aside until you start assembling the lasagna.

The lasagna was super quick to put together since I didn't have to boil the pasta. I did take a few minutes to make some tvp "meat." I used about a cup of tvp crumbles, put them in a small pot (with a lid), covered with some veggie broth and turned the heat up to medium-high. Add some all-purpose seasoning, a pinch of cumin and 1/4-1/2 tsp liquid smoke. Stir well and cover. Cook about 5 minutes, until the liquid is mostly absorbed. I mixed about 1/2 cup of the pasta sauce into the tvp and cooked a couple minutes over low heat to blend the flavors.

While the tvp was cooking, I sauteed up some diced bell pepper, diced onion and sliced mushrooms. Oh, and a little garlic, too. I meant to add some chopped zucchini, but in the rush, I totally forgot. Once that's done, you're ready to start making the lasagna.

I used a deep casserole to bake it. Since I used the no-bake noodles, I poured some sauce on the bottom of the pot, then added a layer of noodles. On top of that was a thin layer of sauce, then a little veggies and a smidge of the tvp meat. Top with noodles, then sauce, then little blobs of the ricotta I made. More sauce, then noodles, the rest of the meat and some more ricotta, a little more sauce. Noodles, sauce, veggies, topped with lots of Daiya. Something like that. I just made sure to use some sauce on all of the noodles to make them moist. Now, I should have told you that you should carefully press each layer to make sure everything is smooshed down and not airy between the layers. I added some garlic salt and a bit of pepper to the top of the cheese. Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes at 420 degrees. Then uncover and cook another 8-10 minutes so the cheese will melt and brown slightly.

Sorry I don't have an exact recipe, but I was in a rush and starving, so you'll just have to forgive me! This one made 4 MASSIVE servings of 6 normal ones.

Before...

And after :)