Long Live Lasagna!

I knew that at the beginning of the week I would not want to do anything. There was way too much stress the week before and I was all out of energy. So I enlisted my wonderful husband to help me make the next 3 nights dinner. Lasagna. In a family of 5, lasagna probably wouldn't last past Dad's lunch the next day. But there's only two of us here and we made it last from Tuesday until Thursday night. And some how I just never got sick of it!

I got this recipe from Skinny Bitch In the Kitch. Yeah Yeah, I know. Ridiculous name. But its got some really great vegan recipes in there. And Steven loved every bite, which couldn't make me happier...and I used to hate lasagna but I couldn't get enough of this!

So what you'll need:

1 package of Lasagna noodles (try to get whole wheat! and watch out for some pastas, they have an egg base. gross.)

3 table spoons of sea salt

5 cups red sauce (you can make your own or buy vegan)

10-12 ounces vegan shredded mozzarella "cheese"

12-14 ounces vegan ground beef (I used Smart brand)

4 cups of tofu "Ricotta"

28-32 ounces extra firm tofu, crumbled (the tofu i get comes in 14 oz packages, so 2 packages)

6 cloves garlic

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh oregano (or 2 teaspoons dried)

1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

Supplies:

8-10 quart stockpot

foil

13 x 9 inch pan

cookie sheet

Food processor

Mixing bowl

Measuring cups/spoons

So lets get started...preheat the oven to 350 F

In your stock pot add about 6 quarts of water (I have no idea how much that is, so I just did it up to the handles on the pot and it seemed to do the job) and the sea salt and start boiling! Then add the lasagna noodles and cook according to the packages instructions.

While the water is boiling/you're cooking the noodles, why not get the ricotta out of the way? So throw all your ingredients into your food processor, process and bam! (sorry, emril) you've got vegan ricotta! If you don't have a food processor, don't worry! Just chop up your garlic VERY FINELY and throw it all in a bowl and mix until creamy! Perfect. Then throw it in the fridge until you need it.

So the pasta is done! now drain it and rinse (I know, I was always told not to rinse my pasta too!) to cool it off so you can actually touch it. Then lay it out on the tinfoil so they don't all stick together.

Next, get out your 13 x 9 inch pan, red sauce, "meat", "ricotta" and "cheese". Spread about a 1/2 cup of sauce on the bottom of the pan. Then put a layer of lasagna noodles down so they're slightly overlapping (they don't have to be perfect!!!). Now we're going to start a cycle! Put down a 1/3 of each ingredient: "ricotta", "meat", "cheese", sauce, noodles, repeat (twice)! so you'll have 3 layers of goodness. Then I put some more sauce & cheese on top and stuck it in the oven on top of the cookie sheet for about an hour.

Then just take it out of the oven and let it cool for 10-15 minutes and serve! It should make about 10 servings give or take.