I love baked pasta dishes but this is one that, to this point, I have rarely bothered to make. That's because the way I've always made it results in sometimes as much as three hours of labor with a so-so product at the end. Apparently, that's because I've been doing it all wrong.
This is how it used to go.
1. Boil noodles.
2. Have most of them break apart on their way out of the pot. Then they stick together while I'm preparing everything else.
3. Forget to press the tofu so it's too wet and inevitably creates a really soggy lasagna.
4. Make a "quick" sauce from canned or fresh tomatoes that usually ends up taking almost an hour in and of itself.
5. Pile everything in the baking pan, which I've usually forgotten to oil.
6. Bake it, crossing my fingers. While it bakes, I grudgingly clean up the massacre in the kitchen.
7. Cry when it comes out.
Since I've done some research into
the better way to make lasagna, this is what I do now.
1. Use prepared pasta sauce. Lasagna just isn't a dish where the flavor of the sauce is showcased. I used
my own stored sauce, but since that's all gone now (oh no! the sadness!), I'll happily buy the bottled stuff at which I usually turn up my nose.
2. Use dry noodles. They don't even have to be the special parboiled lasagne noodles. They can just be regular ol' lasagne noodles - in this case, spinach ones.
3. Do not press the tofu. The fluid that is released during baking is actually essential.
4. Put in whatever the hell fillings I want because I don't have to spend a lot of time worrying about the sauce, the tofu or the noodles.
5. Make the lasagne leisurely and without a single concern. (Okay, actually I worried a lot about whether the noodles would really cook. But I won't worry about it again.)
6. Bake it, and have almost no clean-up.
7. Smile radiantly and go on at length about what a fantastic cook I am and how people should worship me when it comes out of the oven.
The lasagna does have to cook for a full hour, so this isn't a quick meal. But the active preparation required only 15 minutes. That's pretty good compared to the way I used to make it!
ingredients 12 uncooked lasagna noodles
6 c. pasta sauce
1 lb. firm tofu, crumbled
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. dry basil or 2 t. fresh
2 t. dry oregano or 1 t. fresh
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced thickly
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, halved and sliced into thin half-moons
1 bunch of red chard, leaves chopped (you can put the stalks in salads)
basil, parsley and sliced olives, to garnish
instructions 1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Oil a 9x13 baking dish and set aside.
2. Crumble the tofu into a boil and combine it with the yeast, lemon juice, herbs and garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Heat 1 t. of oil in a large skillet and add the onion. Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until soft.
4. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook just until the mushrooms begin to release their juices.
5. Pour a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish. Place 4 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. Top with the tofu, then add a layer of the mushroom mixture. Place a layer of chard on top of the mushrooms, then top that with a layer of sauce. Create another two layers this way, finishing the last layer with a generous sprinkling of parsley, basil and olives.
6. Cover the dish very tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
7. Remove the foil and bake the lasagna for another 30 minutes.
8. Let the lasagna stand for about 10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!
I love baked pasta dishes but this is one that, to this point, I have rarely bothered to make. That's because the way I've always made it results in sometimes as much as three hours of labor with a so-so product at the end. Apparently, that's because I've been doing it all wrong.
This is how it used to go.
1. Boil noodles.
2. Have most of them break apart on their way out of the pot. Then they stick together while I'm preparing everything else.
3. Forget to press the tofu so it's too wet and inevitably creates a really soggy lasagna.
4. Make a "quick" sauce from canned or fresh tomatoes that usually ends up taking almost an hour in and of itself.
5. Pile everything in the baking pan, which I've usually forgotten to oil.
6. Bake it, crossing my fingers. While it bakes, I grudgingly clean up the massacre in the kitchen.
7. Cry when it comes out.
Since I've done some research into the better way to make lasagna, this is what I do now.
1. Use prepared pasta sauce. Lasagna just isn't a dish where the flavor of the sauce is showcased. I used my own stored sauce, but since that's all gone now (oh no! the sadness!), I'll happily buy the bottled stuff at which I usually turn up my nose.
2. Use dry noodles. They don't even have to be the special parboiled lasagne noodles. They can just be regular ol' lasagne noodles - in this case, spinach ones.
3. Do not press the tofu. The fluid that is released during baking is actually essential.
4. Put in whatever the hell fillings I want because I don't have to spend a lot of time worrying about the sauce, the tofu or the noodles.
5. Make the lasagne leisurely and without a single concern. (Okay, actually I worried a lot about whether the noodles would really cook. But I won't worry about it again.)
6. Bake it, and have almost no clean-up.
7. Smile radiantly and go on at length about what a fantastic cook I am and how people should worship me when it comes out of the oven.
The lasagna does have to cook for a full hour, so this isn't a quick meal. But the active preparation required only 15 minutes. That's pretty good compared to the way I used to make it!
ingredients
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
6 c. pasta sauce
1 lb. firm tofu, crumbled
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. dry basil or 2 t. fresh
2 t. dry oregano or 1 t. fresh
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced thickly
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, halved and sliced into thin half-moons
1 bunch of red chard, leaves chopped (you can put the stalks in salads)
basil, parsley and sliced olives, to garnish
instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Oil a 9x13 baking dish and set aside.
2. Crumble the tofu into a boil and combine it with the yeast, lemon juice, herbs and garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Heat 1 t. of oil in a large skillet and add the onion. Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until soft.
4. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook just until the mushrooms begin to release their juices.
5. Pour a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish. Place 4 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. Top with the tofu, then add a layer of the mushroom mixture. Place a layer of chard on top of the mushrooms, then top that with a layer of sauce. Create another two layers this way, finishing the last layer with a generous sprinkling of parsley, basil and olives.
6. Cover the dish very tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
7. Remove the foil and bake the lasagna for another 30 minutes.
8. Let the lasagna stand for about 10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!