Ideal for EatingEating ethically while eating great!

In my family, lasagna is a comfort food for just about everyone. I have made several different types of lasagna over the years: the usual bolognese, plain cheese, spinach, white, mixed vegetables, etc. The favorite used to be bolognese or a basic meat sauce. (Technically, bolognese sauce calls for ground beef, pork and veal along with milk and hardly any tomato sauce or even tomatoes.) Obviously, I'm not making that one anymore. So the new favorite has become mushroom lasagna. Actually, the mushrooms are in the sauce. So, even the kids who don't love mushrooms will mostly eat this lasagna. If I know that some particularly picky eaters will be partaking of the lasagna, then I just chop the mushrooms really fine so picky eaters tend not to notice them at all!

The wonderful thing about using a mushroom sauce for lasagna is that meat-eaters usually enjoy the lasagna as much as vegetarians do. Mushrooms provide a richness and meaty texture that makes most people not miss the meat at all.

Now, a usual problem with vegan lasagna is finding a cheese topping that actually melts. I mean the best part of a lasagna is the slightly browned and wonderfully creamy melted cheese on the top! 

Well, I think I achieved that in this lasagna. First, I had some leftover cashew cheese sauce from a broccoli bake I made the night before. I poured that 1 cup of cashew cheese sauce over the top of the lasagna -- after the mushroom sauce and before the tofu mozzarella. Then I sprinkled between 1/2 cup and 1 cup of shredded tofu mozzarella (I use Tofu Rella brand) over the very top before baking. The cashew cheese sauce ensures that the top is creamy, and the Tofu Rella melts nicely enough to give the top that traditional melted mozzarella look.

And the taste? Serve it to some meat- and cheese-eaters without telling them ahead of time and see what they say! (It's terrific!)

Vegan Mushroom Lasagna -- prep time: about 2 hours; makes one 8x12 casserole dish-full

Ingredients

1 box lasagna noodles

4 ounces Tofu Rella mozzarella, shredded

1 cup cashew cheese sauce

 

(For the mushroom sauce)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup red wine or dry vermouth

16 ounces mushrooms (multiple varieties), sliced

15 ounces tomato sauce

6 ounces tomato paste

2 cups vegetable broth

2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning blend

1 teaspoon oregano

1 tablespoon demerara sugar or agave syrup

1 teaspoon salt

fresh ground pepper to taste

 

(For the tofu ricotta)

1 package (14 ounces) firm tofu, squeeze to get out most of water

3 teaspoons nutritional yeast

juice from 1 lemon

1/4 cup soymilk 

3 teaspoons miso paste

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

 

Directions

The mushroom is best when it has a few hours to simmer. But it's fine to prepare it just before you need it. I usually start it about 2 to 2 1/2 hours before I want to serve the lasagna. If you want to do it earlier in the day or even the day before, skip the noodle part for now and go straight to the sauce.

I normally use uncooked lasagna noodles and just let the sauce cook the noodles in the oven. But the sauce has to be so watery for this to work well that now I boil the noodles for a few minutes ahead of time -- not fully cooked, even less cooked than al dente, but just enough to make them pliable. So, in a really large pot, start boiling some water for the lasagna noodles.

In another large pot (doesn't have to be as large as the one for the noodles), heat the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the onions and garlic for several minutes, until the onions become translucent and just start to brown.

Add the red wine or vermouth and stir.

Add the mushrooms and sauté for a few minutes. 

Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste and vegetable broth. Stir in the basil, Italian seasoning, oregano and sugar (or agave syrup).

Bring sauce to a slow boil then lower heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 - 45 minutes.

Boil the lasagna noodles 3 or 4 at a time in quickly boiling salted water. Remove noodles when they are limp but still have lots of bite to them. Place noodles separated on wax paper to prevent them from sticking. Make as many noodles as you need for your casserole dish. Mine nicely holds 12 noodles (3 layers of 4 noodles each).

Make the tofu ricotta. Place all ingredients for ricotta in a food processor. Pulse several times until mixture has texture of traditional ricotta cheese.

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Assemble the lasagna. Pour enough sauce on bottom of casserole dish for a thin but full layer. Lay down one layer of noodles. Use a spatula to spread 1/2 of the tofu ricotta over the noodles. Pour enough sauce over this layer just to cover it. Lay down a second layer of noodles. Spread rest of tofu ricotta over noodles. Pour more sauce over layer. Lay down last layer of noodles. Pour lots of mushroom sauce over the layer, enough to pour down over sides of lasagna. Now pour cashew cheese sauce over top. Finally, sprinkle shredded Tofu Rella mozzarella over top.

Bake for about 40 minutes. You can put the lasagna under the broiler for 3 - 5 minutes at the end to brown the top.

Remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Serve warm

 

Enjoy!