Saturday, January 22, 2011

Veggie Lasagna



I have been having a hankering for pine nut cream sauce. Why, I do not know. It is delicious, like light your taste buds up, delicious. This pine nut cream sauce is usually the topping for Veganomicon's Moussaka, and I thought it would go perfectly with my homemade veggie lasagna. After prepping and tasting everything, I did not think I was going to be hungry enough to eat dinner, but when I bit into that first bite, I was in awe. Wow, what a great flavor combination. The cream sauce literally takes 1 minute to whip up and is well worth buying a $5 bag of pine nuts for.

Veggie Lasagna
Serves 4-8
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

1 recipe marinara sauce
1 recipe tofu ricotta
1 recipe pine nut cream sauce (recipe to follow)
1 box no cook lasagna noodles
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 medium yellow squash, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste


Preheat your favorite large skillet over medium heat. Add oil and onion. Saute onion for about 7 minutes until fragrant and translucent. Add the zucchini, squash and garlic to the skillet. Saute approximately 3-5 minutes until tender. Add spinach and saute until wilted, approximately 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Marinara Sauce
Makes about 5 cups

2 tbsp olive oil (I love olive oil, but if you want to cut the fat, use less)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-oz can Muir Glen Organic Crushed Tomatoes with Basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt (plus another small pinch or so to taste)

Preheat saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the oil and garlic, and saute for about a minute, until fragrant, being careful not to let it burn. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Feel free to cover if you like; I love the smell of it cooking so I never cover mine.

Tofu Ricotta
Makes 3 1/2 cups

1 tub extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
Pinch of coarse salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
2 packages fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
2 tsp olive oil (optional)

In a large bowl, mush the tofu up with your hands until it is crumbly. Mush with hands again squeezing through your fingers until it reaches the consistency of ricotta cheese. This will take about 2-5 minutes. Add the lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper, and basil. Mush until all ingredients are mixed. You want it lumpy but cohesive so if it is not sticking together, add a teaspoon of olive oil.

Pine Nut Cream Sauce
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

1 pound soft silken tofu
1/2 cup pine nuts
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/4 tsp salt 
1 clove garlic
1 tsp arrowroot powder or potato starch
Pinch of white pepper if you have it, if not black is just fine

In a food processor or blender, blend the pine nuts and lemon juice until pasty in consistency. Add remaining ingredients and blend until creamy smooth.

Bringing it all together:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a 9x9x2 square pan, pour a little bit of marinara sauce to coat the bottom of the pan. Lay two sheets of lasagna down. Scoop a third of the ricotta mixture and spread evenly across the surface of the noodles. Scoop a third of the vegetable mixture and spread evenly across the ricotta mixture. Generously spread a layer of sauce. Add another layer of lasagna noodles. Scoop a third of the ricotta mixture and spread evenly across the surface of the noodles. Scoop a third of the vegetable mixture and spread evenly across the ricotta mixture. Generously spread a layer of sauce. Add another layer of lasagna noodles. Cover with ricotta and vegetable mixture and a layer of sauce. Finally, add one more layer of lasagna noodles. On top of the noodles, pour the pine nut cream sauce. It will be a nice, thick layer of sauce. 

Place pan in oven, uncovered. Cook for 35-40 minutes until the top is lightly browned a few cracks have formed in the topping. Allow to cool 10 minutes before slicing and serving. 

1 comment:

  1. Okay, seriously there is no reason to ever eat regular lasagna with cheese on it again. This was the bomb, and I loved it! Thanks love!

    ReplyDelete