Wednesday, 28 October 2009

• Lasagna

  Lasagna
  
  Let's start off with a confession. Not to scare you off but I am not a chef, i have no formal training what so ever and a lot of these recipes are complete experiments for me... actually... i have only been cooking my own meals for just under 3 years now, since I moved out on my own and became vegan. These are all made in a cramped apartment kitchen with the most basic (and some times improvised) tools of the trade.
  
  Also, this sneaky dish turned into two types of lasagna in one on a request from my fiance. I suggest choosing one style (the classic ricotta or vegetable) to keep it as simple as possible. I'm excited to introduce you though to my favourite tofu discovery...
  
  Faux Ricotta
  
  Ingredients
  1 package of firm tofu
  1/4 cup soy milk
  1 onion chopped
  4 cloves of garlic diced
  2 Tbsp lemon juice
  1 tsp salt
  1 tsp oregano
  3 tsp basil
  
  
  
  Directions
  
  Combine all ingredients in a food processor
  
  
  Blend until it reaches a consistency similar to cottage cheese
  
  
  
  There you have it, faux ricotta, the perfect filling for a classic lasagna, if you mix it up with chopped spinach (which will happen later in the post) it is delectable.
  
  Lasagna
  
  The first time I ever attempted a lasagna was in a little mountain town I worked at one summer, I had only packed a pot and a frying pan so it took some creativity and I made a round vegetable lasagna. Don't count yourself out because you do not have all the tools!!! Just get creative. If you do use a pot though make sure the handle are not plastic and it is oven safe.
  
  For this lasagna, feel free to use any of the veggies you would like, these were chosen by my fiance, i personally love throwing in eggplant and zucchini but for this one i have left them out but feel free to experiment.
  
  Ingredients
  12 lasagna noodles (this is how many it took my pan for 3 layers)
  2 Tbsp olive oil
  2 carrots diced
  8 mushrooms chopped
  1 bell pepper (colour of your choosing)
  1 head of broccoli broken in to small florets
  1 large can of pasta sauce, divided (1/2, 1/4, 1/4)
  2 cups spinach chopped
  faux ricotta
   
  Directions
  
  Put lasagna noodles in boiling water and cook until el dante
  In a large sauce pan combine all veggies
  
  
  
  Cook on medium heat until your veggies are tender
  
  
  
  Once veggies are tender add half of your pasta sauce and simmer gently.
  
   
  
  While the veggies are simmering, in a separate bowl add spinach to the faux ricotta and stir until well combined.
  
  
  
  (this is so delicious if you are making just a classic "cheese" lasagna... omit the veggies and use only pasta sauce and this mixture... seriously, incredible, guaranteed even tofu haters will love this)
  
  In your baking dish pour 1/4 of unmixed sauce to cover the bottom and layer with noodles.
  Evenly spread ricotta mixture on top.
  
  
  
  Cover with a layer of noodles
  
  
  
  Cover this layer with your sauce
  
  
  
  Layer once more with noodles, and cover with remaining sauce. If you have a soy cheese you would like to use, shred this on top... for this lasagna we used Teese mozzarella.
  
  
  
  (Teese Mozzarella has good texture for shredding and melts incredibly well, the flavour was exactly like mozzarella, however i found once it was melted the soy flavour came out and made it less enjoyable... if you are into soy cheese, i suggest it, otherwise, just top with sauce.)
  
  
  
  Pop it in the oven for 30 minutes until everything is heated through, let cool and serve up.
  
  Note: When i put this in the oven I didn't cover it and the noodles on the top layer dried out a little because i used a very thin layer of tomato sauce on the top, to avoid this next time i will cover the top with tin foil.
  
  So there you have it, sorry for its jumping around... I will be sure to only use one style in all coming recipes. It did however turn out quite delicious.
  

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