Lasagna
Everyone needs a good go-to lasagna recipe, right? The vegan version is healthy, low fat, and will appeal to your nonvegan friends. In this recipe, the cashew cheese really adds to the flavor and feel of the lasagna – it is reminiscent of Parmesan cheese. It takes about a half hour to prep and an hour to bake. If you are not a fan of zucchini, you could substitute other veggies or omit.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of cashew cheese (see recipe here)
- 2 x 14 ounce packages of extra firm tofu (the refrigerated kind)
- 6 heaping tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons oregano
- 1 tablespoon dry minced onion
- 2 teaspoons basil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 12 ounce box of whole wheat lasagna noodles (like bionaturae)
- 2-3 zucchini, sliced and halved
- 2 x 26 ounce jars of tomato sauce
1. Prepare cashew cheese. (see recipe here)
2. Remove tofu from the package and allow the liquid to drain off (no need to press).
3. To prepare the “ricotta cheese” mixture, place the following ingredients in a large bowl: tofu, nutritional yeast, salt, oregano, dry onion, basil, and lemon juice. Use an immersion blender to mix until the tofu is smoothish, like the consistency of ricotta cheese. (If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use an electric mixer or food processor.)
4. Put a large pot of water on to boil.
5. Microwave sliced zucchini for 2-4 minutes to precook it a bit.
6. Spread about 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 9×13″ glass baking dish.
7. Once the water is boiling, as you build the lasagna, boil 4 noodles at a time for 4 minutes. Remove the noodles from the water with tongs and place in a strainer for a few seconds before adding to the lasagna.
8. Place four boiled noodles on top of the sauce in the 9×13″ dish.
9. Place a single a layer of zucchini on top of the noodles. Spread about a cup of sauce on top of the zucchini. Using about 1/3 of the “ricotta cheese” mixture, drop small spoonfuls on top of the zucchini/sauce.
10. Preheat the oven to 350º.
11. Place another layer of 4 boiled noodles, single layer of zucchini, 1 cup sauce, and 1/3 of the “ricotta cheese” mixture.
12. Place a third layer of 4 boiled noodles, 1 cup sauce, remaining 1/3 of the “ricotta cheese” mixture, and 1/2 of the cashew cheese.
13. Place last layer of 4 boiled noodles on top. Cover with the remaining sauce.
14. Cover with foil and bake at 350º for 45 minutes.
15. After 45 minutes, remove foil, sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of cashew cheese on top. Bake an additional 15 minutes uncovered.
16. Let cool for about 15 minutes before cutting.
Recipe by Kathy at Healthy Vegan Blog, recipe post.
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Photo Credit: Kathy
