During the time we could eat cheese and wheat, our Mama would make us lasagna. It was a special treat and one of our favourite meals. After changing our diets, lasagna was one of the meals that made the goodbye list. It just was one of those dishes that soy cheese didn't work, noodles were tasteless etc.
That all changed a few years ago when we found this amazing cookbook:
and Praise God lasagna was re-introduced into our lives!
This meal does take time, but is worth the process. If you have sensitive tummies like us, give this recipe a try. It's vegan and gluten free! We have made it a few times now and have added a few changes to simplify the steps. Give it a go and let us know what you think.
La-la-la-Lasagna
(adapted from Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook)
Serves 6-8 people
Ingredients:
For the lasagna:
10 cups of your favourite tomato sauce *it seems like a lot, but this lasagna absorbs sauce, so more is key*
2 boxes of brown rice noodles we use
these ones here, cooked according to decorations
2 pounds of spinach
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
For the Tofu Ricotta:
2 packages of extra firm tofu (around 1 pound)
4 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons of dried basil
4 teaspoons of olive oil
1/2 cup of nutritional yeast
For the Almesan (looks like parmesan)
1/4 cup of slivered almonds
1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds
1/4 teaspoon of lemon zest
How to:
Step 1: Prepare the Almesan by combining all ingredients in a blender. Pulse until mixture is tiny crumbs. Set aside.
Step 2: Prepare the Tofu Ricotta by first mushing the tofu with your hands until it's crumbly. Add the lemon juice, garlic, salt and basil. Mush again with your fingers, this time squeezing it through your fingers. You want it to keep mushing it until it looks like ricotta cheese *approx 2-5 minutes* Add the olive oil and nutritional yeast and stir with a fork, as mixture will be sticky. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Step 3: Preheat oven to 375 'F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When water is hot, add the spinach to the pot, in batches of three. Steam it for 30 seconds, quickly remove with a strainer and rinse under cool water to blanch it. When spinach is completely cool, squeeze excess water out using your fingers. Chop spinach coarsely and add olive oil and salt and pepper.
To assemble: Using a 9 x 13 inch deep pan, ladle about 1/2 cup of sauce into the bottom of the pan and layer with 5-6 cooked noodles. Add half of the tofu ricotta mixture, sprinkle of spinach and one third of the sauce. Add another layer of 5-6 noodles, the rest of the ricotta and the rest of the spinach. Add another one third of the sauce. Top with another layer of 5-6 noodles and remaining sauce. Generously sprinkle the Almesan over the lasagna before baking.
Cover the lasagna with foil and bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes, until edges of noodles are browned and sauce is bubbling.
Let the lasagna cool for 10 minutes or so before serving.
Enjoy!!
PS we like to eat it for lunch the next day with ketchup : )
