Meat Lovers: Vegan Vegetable Lasgna

Let me preface this post with saying that this could have been an epic disaster. Why you ask? Well, seeing as I had never made real lasagna, let alone vegan lasagna, I had no real idea what I was doing. That coupled with the fact that the ricotta is a pretty essential ingredient in lasagna, let's just say I was skeptical.

Much to my surprise, not only did this recipe rock and I have had tons of left overs, but I actually learned how to make tofu ricotta. Yeah, you heard me right- TOFU RICOTTA. I had heard of the elusive tofu ricotta and event eaten some at Peace O'Pie, but I didn't really know how I was going to make it. BUT, now that I have, this may be a new staple for me.

Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients
4 tablespoons Earth Balance
6 tablespoons chick pear flour
1/4 cup of soy milk (unflavored)
1/4 cup vegan grated cheese- usually in the same aisle as tofu
2 cups of tofu ricotta
1 medium onion, chopped
½ cup green pepper, chopped
1 ½ cup raw carrots, thinly sliced
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
1 package of lasagna noodles (I used whole wheat)
8 ounces daiya Mozzarella cheese

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Start by cutting up all your veggies. Sauté the onions and peppers in some olive oil. Next add in the carrots and zucchinii. Sauté until the veggies become soft, and then remove from the heat.

While the veggies are cooking, prepare your tofu ricotta (see recipe below) and lasagna noodles (be careful not to break them!).

Take the Earth Balance, and melt it in a large saucepan. Then stir in the flour to make a paste, and add the soy milk. Continue to stir until this mixture begins to thicken. Add the vegan Parmesan cheese and tofu ricotta. I used a whisk to help keep this smooth. Remove from heat, and set aside.

In a baking dish, put a little sauce on the bottom of the pan, and cover it with a layer of noodles. Spread the veggie mixture, more sauce and a layer of the daiya mozzarella cheese. Repeat and in the next layer spread some of the tofu ricotta mixture as well. When you get to the top layer of the lasagna, spread the last layer of
the tofu ricotta mixture and load up with the rest of the daiya mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle grated vegan Parmesan over it. Finally, cover the lasagna with aluminum foil, and bake for about 30 minutes. Uncover it for the last 10 minutes so the cheese browns a little.

Tofu Ricotta

Ingredients
14 ounces of extra firm tofu, drained well
1/4 cup of EVOO
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon of oregano
1 tablespoon of parsley
1 tablespoon of basil
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
Some fresh ground pepper
A dash of salt

Make sure that you drain the tofu really well before you start. I do this by wrapping it in paper towels and then placing a pot on it. Let it sit for about 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, add all of the ingredients and mash/combine well. You can do this by hand, but I used a potato masher. You don't want to pulverize it, as you want it to be crumbly.