Vegan Lasagna

I don’t make lasagna very often.  I like it, a lot, but it seems like more work than I want to go through for assembly.  Today, however, I got out of a doc. appointment earlier than I planned, and I knew I had some nice fresh veggies in the house and the kids were all occupied, so it seemed like a good time to go for it.  I don’t really work with recipes on dishes like this, so the seasoning is really all “round about” measurement.  It came out well and I will enjoy these leftovers for several days!

Ingredients

1 lb lasagna noodles, cooked al dente
3 T. olive oil
3 cloves garlic minced
1 large onion diced
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 large bell pepper diced
2 small zucchini peeled and diced
2 T Italian seasoning (or your own mix of dried or fresh basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary)
2 cans/jars tomato puree
1 package extra firm tofu
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
Vegan parmesan
Sea salt

Process

Cook noodles as needed and set aside in cool water.

In a large pan, add onions, 2 T olive oil, and garlic.  Cook over medium temp, stirring often, until onions begin to soften and fragrance is released.  Pour in tomato puree and Italian seasoning.   Add sea salt to taste.  If you like a sweeter sauce, add some raw sugar gradually.  Allow to simmer 20 minutes over medium low temp.

In a separate pan, place remaining vegetables and sauté 5-8 minutes on medium high temp. Set aside.

Drain tofu and place in a bowl.  Using a fork, smash block until the texture resembles ricotta cheese.  Add vinegar, nutritional yeast, and ½ t. sea salt and mix.

Cover the bottom of a large casserole dish with parchment paper.  Spread a layer of sauce over the parchment.  Place a layer of noodles on top, overlapping slightly.  Spread on a layer of vegetables.  Add tofu mix by small spoonfuls and spread.  Cover with a layer of sauce.

Repeat process until the pan is full or you run out of ingredients. I typically run out of veggies and tofu before the noodles and sauce, so I will do a couple of layers of just noodles and sauce at the top.

Sprinkle vegan parmesan mix over the top.

Cover tightly with foil and place pan in oven at 375* and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes before cutting to serve.

Serve with a salad and maybe some fresh bread. Enjoy!