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Sara's super-yummy noodle-less lasagna

What you need: 

2 eggplants, sliced lengthwise 1/4" thick
3-4 zucchini, sliced lengthwise 1/4" thick
2-3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 yellow onion, chopped or diced
2 bell peppers, sliced lengthwise 1/4" thick
2 (8 ounce) packages sliced mushrooms
5-8 cloves garlic, minced, divided
2 pounds medium firm tofu, drained
basil, to taste
oregano, to taste
parsley, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
1/3-1 cup nutritional yeast, to taste
1 lemon, juiced
1 (24 ounce) jar tomato sauce

What you do: 

1. Preheat broiler, and grease baking sheets. To make your "noodles", line eggplant and zucchini on prepared baking sheets and broil for 2-3 minutes on each side. It look me about 4 baking sheets to fit all my slices. Check them frequently so they don't burn! Remove, and set aside. Reduce oven to 350 degrees F.
2. To make your veggie layer, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat and add the onion and peppers; cook about 5 minutes or until beginning to get soft. When the onions and peppers start to soften, add the mushrooms and some garlic, to taste. Continue cooking until everything is soft but not mushy, since they are going to be cooked even more in the oven. Set aside.
3. To make the tofu "ricotta", use your hands to crumble the tofu into a mixing bowl. After crumbling the tofu, add fresh or dried basil, parsley, and oregano, a little salt and pepper, lemon lemon, 3 or more cloves garlic, 2-3 teaspoons olive oil, and nutritional yeast. Adjust seasonings, to taste. Mix this all up with a spoon until it resembles a nice, herbed ricotta cheese mixture.
4. To assemble, spread a layer of sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13" pan. Lay eggplant slices as you would noodles. I lay mine vertically from the top to bottom of the pan, not the long side to side horizontal width of the pan. On top of the eggplant, spread 1/2 the mushroom-pepper mixture. Next, use your zucchini to make another layer of noodles. Your noodle slices should all be close together, with the edges overlapping a little if needed.
5. On top of your zucchini, put another thin layer of sauce. Next put all of your tofu ricotta. On top of that, spread the remaining 1/2 mushroom-pepper mixture. Next, use the rest of your eggplant to make your last layer of noodles. I had a few extra zucchini and used those to fill in on the sides of the pan.
6. Pour the rest of your sauce on top. Your lasagna should be very tall, pretty much the height of the pan. If you are worried that it is too full or has too much sauce and might cook over, place your lasagna pan on a cookie sheet before popping it in your oven. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake in the center of oven for 45 minutes. Then, uncover and bake for another 20-30 minutes, until it is all hot and bubbly.
I made this last night for a double-birthday dinner for my non-veggie parents. My parents both loved it and had 2 big servings each, and my very picky sister enjoyed it as well. My 3 year old newphew wouldn't eat any, but he did eat the vegan panna cotta I made for dessert. We served this with a side salad and some fresh garlic bread. unfortunately I forgot to take a picture, but it looked lovely!
I don't use a lot of fake meat or cheese substitutes when I cook, but you could certainly add some vegan shredded cheese to the top, or mixed in with the tofu ricotta. You could also add fresh spinach as one of the layers.
Source of recipe: I made this up after looking at many other lasagna recipes and putting together a new creation based off of what I wanted to eat.

Preparation Time: 
1 hr, Cooking time: 1 hr 15 min
Cooking Time: 
1 hr 15 min
Servings: 
8
Recipe Category: 

SO HOW'D IT GO?

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