June 2, 2016
Vegan Vegetable Lasagna
I’m watching the Warriors game while trying to write this, all while simultaneously being slightly drunk and a little high. It’s no joke that I can multitask like a motherfucker! Oh yes, and sorry we’ve been gone for a hot minute, but if you follow our page on Instagram, then you might’ve seen our explanation for that. My little sister, Abigail, graduated from Chico State so we were there for a days. Once we got home, we cared for and fostered a dog that Ashlee accidentally ran over. We tried keeping her, but unfortunately, she needed much more space than we could provide. Oh yeah, AND we’re planning a wedding that’s in just over 4 months! Fucking crazy, right?! But we slapped ourselves together and we have some seriously good shit coming up in the next few weeks, including this veggie lasagna!
Growing up in a Filipino household, there were rarely, if ever, days that we would come home to meals like lasagna. My mom often made spaghetti, but that was the closest “Amercian” dish we ever had. Our dinners consisted of fried fish, fish stew, diniguan (blood pudding stew), and RICE. SO MUCH RICE. While I absolutely loved all that food growing up, I was curious as to what my friends ate in their households.
Over summertime, I would go to my neighbor, Kim’s house every single day. One night, I stayed over for dinner and her mom made lasagna and right then and there, I fell in love. From that moment on, I went through a phase where I would order lasagna wherever we went. I was completely and utterly obsessed. Little did I know how simple and easy it was to make. I’m laughing now looking back at my younger self who was so amazed by this dish.
Since adopting a vegan diet, I thought gone were the days that I would ever have delicious lasagna again and I was so wrong. You see, Ashlee and I aren’t really into cooking with that fake meat stuff. Don’t get me wrong, some of it is delicious, but we try to make our recipes as easy and as fresh as possible. This lasagna is just that! It’s fresh and easy, perfect for summer nights like this. Unlike traditional pasta, it lacks that heaviness you feel when you’re done eating. Our friend tried it a couple weeks ago and tried taking the entire pan home! The mushrooms provide a perfect meatiness. We made tofu ricotta which honestly tastes just like the real stuff!! Then, we topped it off with Follow Your Heart Mozzarella Shreds
If you try this dish and love it as much as we do, show some love on Instagram and hashtag #EatFigsNotPigs. Now time to finish the rest of this game. GO WARRIORS and until next time, guys!!!
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, diced
- ½ green bell pepper, diced
- ½ cup basil, roughly chopped
- 1 28 oz can San Marzano tomatoes, juices reserved
- 2 cups Organic tomato sauce
- 2 tbs tomato paste
- 1 Not Chick'n buillon cube
- 1 tbs Italian seasoning
- ¼ cup organic vegan sugar
- 2 tbs red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ½ block extra firm tofu
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 tsp Red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp Dried basil
- Package lasagna noodles
- 1 Zuchinini, sliced into rounds
- 1 Squash, sliced into rounds
- ½ Eggplant, sliced thinly into rounds
- 2 cups mushrooms, diced
- 2 cups spinach, roughly chopped
- ½ cup marinated artichoke hearts
- 1.5 package Follow Your Heart Mozzarella Shreds
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- Press tofu between paper towels and top with a heavy pan to release much of its moisture. Let this sit for at least 30 minutes, or up to several hours
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- In a large mixing bowl, crush San Marzano tomatoes with hand. Set aside with reserved juices.
- In a large pot, add olive oil over medium high heat
- Add onions, garlic, and peppers
- Cook until onions become translucent and fragrant, about 5-7 minutes
- Add buillon cube, crushed tomatoes and reserved juices along with tomato sauce and tomato paste.
- Stir to combine
- Add sugar, spices, basil, salt and pepper
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes
- Crumble your drained tofu with a fork or with your hands
- Add seasonings and set aside
- Over medium high heat, add a bit of olive oil to a pan and cook your mushrooms and spinach for about 7-10 minutes or until the half in size.
- Cook noodles according to package
- To assemble lasagna, spread about ¾ cup of sauce on the bottom of a casserole or baking dish
- Arrange cooked noodled lengthwise over sauce
- Add first set of vegetables (we started with zuchini)
- Spread a couple tablespoons each of crumbled ricotta and mozzarella shreds
- Repeat layers. Sauce, veggies, cheese
- Your final layer should be your mushroom and spinach mixture, topped with the remaining Follow Your Heart Mozaarella shreds
- Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.
- Uncover and bake an additional 25 minutes.
- Let cool for about 5-10 minutes and ENJOY!
