TVP gives the lasagna beefy texture, the tomato sauce makes the lasagna juicy and flavorful; ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses add the creaminess and cheesiness . An absolutely delicious vegetarian lasagna that your meat lover friends may ask for second slice.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
3 hrsREADY
3½ hrsIngredients
Directions
Heat the oil over medium-high heat until hot.
Add the onion, and garlic, stirring, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are softened.
Stir in chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, brown sugar, basil, oregano, fennel and parsley.
Simmer under low heat, cover the pot, for about 2 hours, stirring a few times.
At the last 15 minutes, stir in the TVP and season with salt and black pepper to taste.
Cook lasagna noodles in salted boiling water for about 9 minutes.
Meanwhile prepare a large bowl of iced water.
Put the cooked lasagna into the iced water to stop cooking, drain well.
In a 4-cup measuring cup or a medium bowl, stir together ricotta cheese and egg until well combined.
Adjust the oven rack to lower third of the oven, and preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃).
In a 9 by 13-inch baking dish , spoon ⅓ of TVP and tomato sauce and evenly spread the sauce.
Place 3 noodles lengthwise over sauce.
Spoon half of the ricotta cheese mixture and ⅓ of the parmesan cheese over the noodles until evenly covered.
Place another 3 noodles over the cheese mixture.
Spoon ½ of the remaining TVP and tomato sauce evenly over the noodles.
Sprinkle a third of mozzarella.
Place 3 noodles over the cheeses.
Spread the remaining ricotta cheese mixture and ½ of the remaining parmesan cheese over the sauce.
Place 3 noodles over the cheeses.
Spoon the remaining TVP and tomato sauce over the noodles.
Sprinkle ½ of the remaining mozzarella cheese over the sauce.
Top with final 3 layers of noodles. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese on top.
Bake for about 1 hour or longer until the cheeses on top melt and golden-brown.
Cool for 10 minutes.
Serve warm with a green salad.
Comments
If you were going to use bottled tomato sauce, how much would you use?
The recipe calls for 13 ounces, so I would use 13 ounces bottled tomato sauce!
what can you substitute for the cheese?
They make fake cheeses if you do not eat chest because it is not vegan. However, I do not know about the flavors or fining a ricotta cheese substitute. Lasagna is a dish that is kind of all about the cheeses, if you do not eat cheese, maybe lasagna isn't the best choice of dishes to make. If you still want to try, maybe using a filling type mixture to replace the ricotta made from a white beans or nut meat butter, (like almond, pistachio or hazelnut) either alone or together. If I were to do that I might mix something into the filling like seasoned TVP( sans sauce) spinach or mushrooms and maybe some fake cheese. I did see a cheese mixture with white shreds for a Mexican mixture so maybe they make vegan Italian cheeses now. You would however, want to be sure that it is the kind that melts.
Hope that helps.
Do you soak the top before adding it to the tomato sauce mixture?
TVP
I think I did. The label on the TVP package does say that it needs to be presoaked.
What does 2 lbs of tomatoes translate to in canned tomatoes?