Fun fact, did ya'll know I was a vegetarian for three years of my life? A movie in my 8th grade history class did a number on me. Cows and lambs and other cute googly-eyed animals were being slaughtered left and right. I was horrified and lost my appetite.
Although I went back to being a meat connoisseur, I appreciate a hearty vegetarian dish. But I also love sticking my fork into some good old comfort food (honestly, who doesn't). You get the best of both worlds with this mean, green, lasagna recipe! Lauren introduced it to me when I was visiting in Charlotte. She offered me a piece for lunch and I demolished every last bite. In fact, I scraped the dish clean.
This recipe is honestly pretty simple to cook. You will first create two fillings, and then assemble the lasagna together. I prepared mine a couple of hours before it was actually baked, so all I had to do was throw it in the oven! You will find that a food processor is possibly your best friend, so if you don't have one, run quick and buy buy buy (or borrow from a friend)!
THE GOODS:
- 2 boxes of no-boil lasagna noodles
- 48 oz of tomato sauce
- 2 15-oz cans of cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
- fresh basil
- 1 cup pine nuts
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (or more)
- 2 packs of frozen chopped spinach (kale can be substituted) defrosted and drained
- 2 lbs sliced mushrooms
- 1 large red onion
- parmesan/mozzarella cheese to taste
You may be thinking, "what the hell is nutritional yeast?" Here's your short and simple answer: It is not what's in your bread or beer! So do not substitute for dry yeast or baking yeast. It is an inactive yeast, therefore will not froth or grow, and is packed with nutrition, particularly B-vitamins, folic acid, selenium, zinc, and protein. It is low in fat and gluten-free (please be sure to verify with particular brands). Basically, this stuff is great for you vegans and vegetarians. PSA over.
THE PROCESS:
- Create your first filling by processing the beans, basil, 2 cloves of garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, pine nuts, and red pepper flakes with the "S" blade. If your food processor is of the smaller sorts, try breaking it down into batches and them combining in a separate bowl.
- Chop red onion and sauté in a large non-stick pan until translucent, approximately 8 minutes. Add water if necessary (I didn't use a single lick of oil). Chop mushrooms and 2 more cloves of garlic. Add to pan and continue to cook until browned, or until there is no liquid left in the pan.
- Pour approximately 3 cups of sauce in a 9"x 13" baking dish to completely coat the bottom. Add one layer of noodles on top. Cover noodles with half of the bean/spinach mixture. Top with a layer of the mushroom/onion mixture. Repeat with another layer of noodles, the remainder of the bean/spinach mixture and then rest of the mushroom/onion mixture. Add one more layer of noodles, and smother with remaining sauce.
- If you are vegan-- leave as is. If you are vegetarian, top off with parmesan and mozzarella cheese.
- Bake uncovered for 1 hour at 375 degrees fahrenheit. Pull out of the oven and let sit for an additional 10 min. ENJOY!
You will want to dig right in! I made this lasagna for my Dad, Trish, and two gal-pals Patrice and Aubrey. We only consumed half of it, so this would be a great meal to feed the whole family and still have left overs for another day. The original recipe says it serves 8.
With this recipe, you get all of the amazing flavors and textures of a traditional lasagna with a fraction of the dairy and fat! Not to mention a great source of protein. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did. I would love to hear what you think about it.