With my deadline for the art exhibit rapidly approaching I have not had a lot of time to make complicated or interesting recipes. Last night I got home from the studio a little early to catch the men's Olympic skating program and this gave me time to make something really good.
Lasagna may be one of my all time favorite things to eat. Its like pizza, it allows for so many variations. Before this vegan experience I would make it vegetarian and load it up with lots of cheese. So I was a little worried about missing all the dairy with my vegan version. I used the Tofu Ricotta recipe from Vegan With A Vengeance (I used this for the ravioli I made last weekend). It turned out really great, and I had enough left over so I didn't have to cook the next day. I heated it up in the microwave and ate it with a yummy side of garlic/olive oil sauteed asparagus.
Cheri's Vegan Veggie Lasagna:
2 cups of Tofu Ricotta Recipe follows
2 Jars of pasta sauce
1 medium eggplant skinned and finely chopped into small squares.
3 large portabella mushrooms very finely chopped
2 tbs of red wine vinegar
1/2 box of lasagna noodles (thin or thick, I like the thin ones better because their more delicate, and the lasagna stays together better. Also remember to check the box to see if your pasta is made with eggs.)
2 tbs of vegetable oil
1 clove of garlic chopped
1/2 a onion chopped ( you may like more)
1 red pepper chopped
2 tsp dried basil (fresh is always better if you can get it)
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
1) Depending on what type of lasagna noodles you use you may have to pre-boil them. For this particular lasagna I used the large noodles so I added them to a pot of boiling water for about 8 minutes to soften them up a bit. If you use the thin lasagna noodles there is no need to pre-boil.
2) In a large sauce pan heat 1 tsp of oil and add onion and portobella add salt, pepper, oregano, and vinegar. Stir often and cook until mushrooms and onions are soft. Put in a bowl for later use.
3) In the same heated pan add 1 tbs of oil and add eggplant and red pepper, the add oregano, garlic and a little salt a pepper. Cook until eggplant is slightly browned and peppers are soft.
4) Now comes the layering! Use a large casserole dish and spray with a non-stick vegetable spray. Put one layer of lasagna noodles on the bottom. I'm going to describe how I layered everything but you can really do it any way you want and will taste great.
1 layer noodles
2 layer tomato sauce
3 layer eggplant and pepper mixture
4th layer noodles
5th layer tofu ricotta
6th layer mushroom and onion mixture
7th layer noodles
8th layer lots of sauce
Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, at the 45 minute point take out and sprinkle soy mozzarella cheese on top and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
When you bring it out of the oven let it settle for about 10 minutes and then dig in. Make a nice side salad to have on the side.
Tofu-cashew ricotta recipe adapted from Vegan With A Vengeance:
Ingredients
- 1 lb firm tofu, pressed
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 dash fresh black pepper
- 10 fresh basil leaves
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (don't have to use this I made it before without but it adds flavor)
- 1/4 cup cashews (don't have to use this I made it before without but it did add a nice flavor)
Put everything in your food processor and blend until smooth. Store in airtight container in fridge till needed.
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