A non-vegan friend of mine told me he'd have a hard time going vegan because he loves lasagna. Little does he know, plant-based lasagna can be incredible if you have the right recipe. I reached out to my Facebook friends for their favorites, and 2 of them responded with incredible recipes. I haven't tried them, but they look delicious and fun to make. They take a little knowledge of cooking, as they don't have very specific instructions - use your kitchen instincts and I'm sure they will turn out great. Please let me know if you give them a shot and how they turn out - would love your pictures too!
You can also check out my lasagna article on Greenwala.
1. Abby's Triple Layer Lasagna (easily made soy and gluten-free)
Layer #1: Red Sauce:
- Olive Oil Garlic (diced)
- Capers
- Fire Roasted
- Canned Diced Tomatoes
- Bell Peppers (diced)
- Onion (diced)
- Carrots (diced)
- Zucchini (diced)
- Kalamata Olives (quartered)
- Canned Tomato Sauce
- Splash of Balsamic vinegar or red wine
- Italian Seasoning
- Dried Basil
- All Purpose Seasoning
- Salt & Pepper
- Optional: about a tsp of cocoa powder and a little bit of blackstrap molasses. This adds a lot of depth to the sauce.
Layer #2: Pesto:
- Fresh Basil
- Toasted Pine Nuts or Walnuts
- Olive Oil
- Nutritional Yeast or Vegan Parm
- Salt
- Lemon Juice
Layer #3: Artichoke/Asparagus:
- Artichoke Hearts
- Olive Oil
- Asparagus
- Lemon Juice
- Lemon Zest
- Garlic
- All Purpose Seasoning
Various Optional Layers: Vegan Parmesan or Vegan Alfredo-style sauce:
- If using vegan parmesan, broil off each layer separately to ensure it's properly melted
- If using alfredo sauce, I just put on top of the lasagna before popping into the oven to warm
How Abby puts it all together:
- Red sauce
- Noodles
- Pesto
- Artichoke Hearts/Asparagus
- Noodles
- Red Sauce
- Noodles
- Whatever sauce is leftover or I do the vegan alfredo (seasoning packet)
- Sprinkle some toasted pine nuts on top
- Sprinkle on Vegan Parm
- Broil in oven
2. Ben's Lasagna:
Sauce:
- Add one cup of TVP to one cup of boiling water and leave to soak for min 5 mins
- Cut up one medium onion, one red pepper, one green pepper and and one/two cloves of garlic
- Gently fry all of the vegetables in a large frying pan
- Add salt/pepper as necessary (The salt draws the flavours out of the vegetables and helps flavour the TVP)
- When the onions have gone translucent, add the pre-soaked TVP and reduce the heat.
- Stir quickly and don't allow TVP to stick to the pan
- On a low heat, add a jar of pasta sauce (something generic from your local health food shop: loads of good ones) I always have some passatta available as well: you need the sauce runny enough to pour
- Add herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage etc... whatever you like)
- You might want to add some finely chopped carrots and/or mushrooms at this point
- Put a lid on the pan and leave for about 30 mins. (stir occasionally to prevent sticking) If possible at this point, leave the sauce in the fridge in a sealed container over night
Stacking:
- Get a large pyrex dish and start stacking. You need vegan lasagne sheets.
- Stack sheets, sauce, sheets, sauce, sheets, sauce, sheets (You need to finish on sheets!)
White Sauce:
- Melt 4oz vegan margarine in a pan and stir in 4oz of plain flour
- Cook over a low heat for 2-3 minutes, without browning (looks like a little lump of raw pastry, but stick with it)
- Turn the heat right down and SLOWLY add 2 pints of soya milk: if lumps occur, stop pouring the liquid and stir vigorously
- Bring heat up and bring to boil. keep stirring
- Lower heat and simmer for 1-2 mins (until glossy)
- Add S&P to taste
- (You could melt in a vegan cheese at this point, but I suggest you've tried it out first to see how well it melts: some are better than others. If it works for cheese-on-toast, then give it a go!!)
- Gently pour your white sauce over the lasagne
Cook in a pre-heated over at 200 deg C for 30-40 mins (you want it to start to crisp on the top)
I can make 5 portions out of this, and each portion has between 20-30g of protein; quite good for a bodybuilder!