Sham's Seriously Simple and Amazing Vegan Lasagna
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cloves + 1 clove fresh garlic, thinly sliced
1 (12 ounce) bag vegan meat crumbles (I use Boca Meatless Crumbles)
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup + 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons vegan margarine (I use Smart Balance)
1 (8 ounce) containers vegan cream cheese (I use Toffuti)
1/2 cup plain nondairy milk (I use soy)
2 teaspoons oregano
salt and pepper, to taste
12 pieces lasagna pasta, cooked, divided
1 (24 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce (I use Barilla), divided
1. For the “meat”, coat the bottom of a frying pan with canola oil and place on medium heat. Once oil is heated, add 2 cloves garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Add “meat” crumbles and cook until all the crumbles are loosened and softened. Add water and 1/2 cup nutritional yeast. Mix until the yeast dissolves and becomes almost a cheese-like coating.
2. For the "ricotta" cheese, in a medium saucepan, melt vegan margarine over medium heat until melted. Add the vegan cream cheese and continuously stir until it becomes a thick, creamy substance.
3. Add the nondairy milk and continue to stir. Stir in 1 clove garlic. Add 1/2 cup nutritional yeast, oregano, salt, and black pepper. Stir until nutritional yeast dissolves.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the bottom of a casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. For assembly, layer the bottom of the dish with 4 pieces lasagna. Take spaghetti sauce and layer about 2 to 3 tablespoons over the pasta. Next, take about 3 tablespoons vegan crumbles and layer it over the sauce.
5. Add 3 tablespoons of the "ricotta" cheese over the crumbles. Add another of each layer on top and then finish with a final layer of lasagna pasta on top. Add the remaining spaghetti sauce on top so the top pasta layer doesn't burn. Place in oven and bake for about 25 minutes. Once it is done, take out of oven and let cool. Then, it is time to enjoy!
Source of recipe: This is another vegan recipe I have discovered during my trials and tribulations of cooking.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
This recipe was pretty darn good even though I had a mishap. When I opened my brand new container of Tofutti sour cream is was almost pure water!! I've never gotten one like that before. There were little bits of solids in there and I tried to mix it together but barely got any out at all.... So I did not use the soymilk as my cheese sauce was already runny, lol. BUT I added some cornstartch to try and thicken it up a bit.Oh, and I used Lightlifes Smart Ground (cause thats my fave mock crumbles) instead of Boca. Plus I threw in a couple handfuls of canned mushrooms with the meat sauce. All in all it turned out really good!!! I'm sure had I had my Tofutti sour cream it would have been kick ass. Willl definantly make this one again! Thanks!
Good recipe, though since I used what was around the kitchen, I made a lot of changes. Instead of Boca crumbles, I used dry burger mix and crumbled and sauteed it instead of making patties, and added onion, zucchini, and mushrooms to the mix; I used a package of silken tofu instead of cream cheese, creamed it with a hand blender, and so I didn't need to add milk to that. Also added diced tomatoes in the layering process. Covered it with aluminum foil to cook for about 25-30 minutes, then took it off, and like animal_g, I added soy mozzarella to the top, uncovered it, and baked it for another 20 minutes or so.
Needless to say, the lasagna turned out completely different from what the recipe intended, but it was still great. I do plan on making it by the recipe sometime (it sounds really good), but even with all the changes I made, the lasagna was delicious.
Between 2 of us this dish was gone in 60 seconds. Very Very Very good, especially considering this was my first time making lasagna ever.
Instead of using Boca Crumbles I used the equivalent of salted, reconstituted TVP. The only other change was that I added some shredded FYH mozzerella on top during the last 10 minutes of cooking. I only made it 2 layers due to limited supply of noodles, though the recipe yields enough filling for several layers .I thought it would be enough but next time I'm going for 3 or 4 layers. It is so freaking good, we literally devoured it and needed more!
My meat eating hubby actually ate it! He hates lasagna (regular, that is). Doesn't like the texture of ricotta cheese. This one had the perfect porportion of sauce and cheese. I believe it was a little meaty for my taste though. I'll use less next time. Being an ovo-lacto so long, I was used to no-meat lasagna. The Boca crumbles did add a nice element though. Made the dish heartier. Also, I suggest cooking up a few more than 12 noodles. I made three cheese/meat layers and, therefore, needed 4 layers of 4 noodles a piece (16 noodles total). Also, I used a 9x9 inch dish. I thought this worked out rather well for just the two of us - 3 big pieces of lasagna leftover for lunches. Might use a little vegan parm on top next time as well as some other italian seasonings.