Tuesday, December 13, 2011

#25 - Vegan Lasagna Recipe

“Vegan lasagna recipe”Lasagna Ingredients:
One package (organic) lasagna noodles
2 jars of “Organicville Italian Herb” pasta sauce
2 packages of “Yves” “meatless” ground meat
4 cups of fresh spinach
1 yellow onion
1 lg. tomato
1 lg. portabella mushroom (optional)

“Ricotta Cheese” Ingredients:

1-2 packages “firm” (organic) tofu
NOTE: If you like lots of "cheese" then use 2 packages of tofu and DOUBLE all the ingredients below for the "ricotta cheese" mixture:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbl oregano (fresh, if possible)
2 tbl basil (fresh, if possible)
2 tbl parsley (fresh, if possible)
1-2 tsp “Himalayan salt” (add till it tastes good)
1-2 tsp pepper (I used “garlic & pepper spice mix) (add till it tastes good)

Additional ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil (to use in water and in lasagna tray)

Preparing “ricotta cheese” mixture:

Put tofu in food processor or blender and blend till very smooth
Remove and place in bowl
Add remainder of ingredients (remember to double the ingredients if you are using 2 packages of tofu instead of one) and whisk together, then set aside

Preparing “meatless” meat mixture:

Dice up onion, tomato and portabella mushroom
Warm up saute pan
Add olive oil (2-3 tbl)
Let olive oil heat up for about 30-45 seconds
Added diced up veggies and saute till soft and/or lightly browned
Add both packages of Yves “meatless ground", stir until nice and warm
Add one jar of pasta sauce and stir until nice and warm
Turn off heat and set aside

Preparing lasagna noodles and spinach:

-Bring 4-5 quarts of water to full boil in large pot
-Add 1-2 tbl of olive oil (this keeps noodles from sticking)
-Do not break noodles in half when placing in pot
-Place about 5 noodles in at a time (edge will stick out – gently push on middle of noodle and/or edge that is sticking out, with wooden spoon, until entire noodles are submerged under water)
-Repeat this process till you have put all noodles in the pot of boiling water
-Cook no more than 10 min. (check that noodles are almost fully cooked, but are still “al dente”)
-You do not want to fully cook the noodles since they will be baked thereafter, they should be soft but not too soft
-Do not leave noodles in water when they are done cooking, as the hot water will continue cooking them and making them softer. When they get to desired consistency, remove water, rinse noodles and set aside
-Separately: Chop up spinach and thoroughly rinse all dirt out of spinach leaves, then set aside (spinach should not be boiled or cooked prior to being placed in lasagna mix)

Assembling lasagna: (at this point, turn on oven to preheat at 450)

-I like to use a glass lasagna tray (stainless steal or disposable foil trays will work as well)
-Pour a couple tbl. of olive oil in bottom of tray and use brush to brush bottom and all sides on the inside of the tray with the olive oil (this will prevent the noodles from sticking to the tray)
-Open second jar of pasta sauce and brush a couple tbls. over olive oil on bottom of tray
-Gently start to take lasagna noodles apart, if possible, without ripping them so you have full length strips (if they do rip, just layer them)
-Place 3-4 noodles side by side (lengthwise) to cover the width of the tray
-Brush another a couple more tlbs. of olive oil on top of noodles
-Use 1/3 of “meatless” meat mixture and spread over sauce and noodles
-Place another layer of noodles on top of “meatless” meat mixture
-Put another layer of pasta sauce on top of noodles
-Take 1/2 of the “ricotta cheese” mixture and place on top of sauce and noodles
-Take 1/3 of chopped fresh spinach and put on top of “ricotta cheese mixture”
-Repeat the steps above one more time (noodles, sauce, meat, noodles, sauce, cheese, spinach, noodles, sauce)
-Top of lasagna should have generous amount of sauce (you can add a “vegan shredded mozzarella cheese” on top if you like (I didn’t really care for the one I tried, but everyone else loved it…. it tasted more “parmesan-y than mozzarella-y, but it did make a nice crispy top”

Baking lasagna:

Place lasagna tray in preheated (450 degree) oven and bake for 30-45 min. (make sure that layers are hot by cutting a little piece and trying it.... a nice semi-crusty top is a good sign it's ready, but always taste test to be sure)

Viola, dinner is served!!!!
Soooo yummy!


The key is to make sure that every layer of your lasagna has pasta sauce throughout it. I made a second batch and did not put that much sauce in the layers and it didn’t taste as good. Then I went back and added more sauce and it was perfect!

So, with the “meatless ground" and the tofu-based “ricotta cheese”, the flavors are really brought together with the pasta sauce, otherwise it becomes a little too dry!

Good luck, enjoy and tell me how it went! I believe it took me about 45 min. to put it all together and no more than 45 to let it bake!  I've now made it 3xs and every time I've shared (with "carnavores" no less), every last one of them has said they LOVED it and would "never guess that there WASN'T any meat in there.
Of course, if you don't like using "meat substitutes", you can play around with the recipe and add other veggies (like mushrooms zuccini, squash and/or eggplant if you're a fan of any of these) and OMIT the meat substitute.
Below are pictures I took when I prepared this for my family in LA over Thanskgiving wknd, 2011.  I did not have one LARGE glass dish, so instead I used 2 small ceramic ones (you can't tell from the pics, but they are not full sized dishes, more mid-sized), so that's why I ended up layering and making 2 lasagnas instead of one.
 












 
 
My next challenge is how to take a fabulous "vegeterian" recipe for "Baked acorn squash with bread pudding stuffing" and turn it into a fully "vegan recipe" (I got the butter and milk covered.... but not sure what to sub for the eggs.... suggestions??)