Vegan Lasagna recipe made with fresh healthy ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
- 3 tablespoons minced garlic
- 4 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
- 1/3 cup tomato paste
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles
- 2 pounds firm tofu
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 3 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach thawed and drained
- Carbohydrate 78.9038147463759 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 32.5522402978554 g
- Fiber 11.5924471158514 g
- Protein 73.3334591032227 g
- Saturated Fat 4.92405136357515 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (1333g)
- Sodium 455.623805121173 mg
- Sugar 67.3113676305245 g
- Trans Fat 3.00209049052555 g
- Calories 875 calories
Step-by-step
- Make the sauce: In a large, heavy saucepan, over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Place the onions in the saucepan and saute them until they are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic; cook 5 minutes more.
- Place the tomatoes, tomato paste, basil and parsley in the saucepan. Stir well, turn the heat to low and let the sauce simmer covered for 1 hour. Add the salt and pepper.
- While the sauce is cooking bring a large kettle of salted water to a boil. Boil the lasagna noodles for 9 minutes, then drain and rinse well.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Place the tofu blocks in a large bowl. Add the garlic, basil and parsley. Add the salt and pepper, and mash all the ingredients together by squeezing pieces of tofu through your fingers. Mix well.
- Assemble the lasagna: Spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch casserole pan. Arrange a single layer of lasagna noodles, sprinkle one-third of the tofu mixture over the noodles. Distribute the spinach evenly over the tofu. Next ladle 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce over the tofu, and top it with another layer of the noodles. Then sprinkle another 1/3 of the tofu mixture over the noodles, top the tofu with 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce, and place a final layer of noodles over the tomato sauce. Finally, top the noodles with the final 1/3 of the tofu, and spread the remaining tomato sauce over everything.
- Cover the pan with foil and bake the lasagna for 30 minutes. Serve hot and enjoy.
Constructing a meat-free and dairy-free lasagna requires careful moisture management, because watery vegetables will destabilize the structural integrity of the baked layers. When substituting traditional ricotta with a block of pressed firm tofu, ensuring the excess liquid is squeezed out prevents the casserole from sliding apart when portioned. Operating a kitchen efficiently means overlapping tasks, so running the tomato sauce through its hour-long simmer while boiling the pasta in salted water cuts down total active labor.
Scaling this dish upward for large gatherings requires a mathematical adjustment of the pan dimensions rather than a simple doubling of ingredients. A standard 9x13 inch casserole pan holds roughly two pounds of tofu and four cans of stewed tomatoes quite comfortably, but pushing past those physical volume limits risks uneven heat penetration during the thirty-minute bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Dividing oversized batches into two separate baking dishes guarantees that the internal temperature reaches safety standards without burning the top layer of noodles.
Freezing unbaked portions offers a viable meal-prep strategy, provided the assembly utilizes slightly undercooked lasagna noodles that can absorb excess moisture during the secondary thawing and baking process. Storing leftovers in an airtight container within the refrigerator maintains structural quality for up to four days before the spinach releases enough water to degrade the pasta texture.
