Gack Yack

I love lasagna. Fortunately, lasagna is something that you can make deliciously without meat. However, it’s not so easy to make it not taste like plastic and keep it nutritious, and low fat. This is a challenge that I always face when I’m making my lasagna these days. Gone are the days of my famous 10 cheese lasagna and white flour lasagna noodles. Today my lasagna has to be good with high fiber, whole wheat noodles and low fat cheeses or my doctor says I will die. My latest attempt was a great success IMO.  I have made virtually fat free versions, which are OK (read crap), but this one uses a little fat and turned out great! I’d guess about 3 grams of sat. fat per serving, but that is only a guess and depends on what cheese combination you use.

Ingredients:

2 8oz cans of diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning
1 6oz can of tomato paste
2 cups fresh spinach, stemmed
1 pint sliced mushrooms
2 cups Morningstar soy crumbles
1 cup of good white wine
1 cup veggie stock
13 sprays of spray butter (give or take 1)
1 tbsp olive oil
1.5 cups diced onions
.5 cups finely chopped green pepper
.5 cups finely chopped celery
8 oz 2% low fat mozzarella
12 oz fat free  small curd cottage cheese
.5 cups low fat parmigiana “product”
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp minced garlic
.25 cups parsley
bunch of fresh basil and oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Get a big f’n pot. Add oil, butter, onions, peppers, celery, and cook on low-med until onions are clear. Add wine and reduce by half. Add veggie stock, tomatoes, paste, mushrooms, crumbles, salt, pepper, garlic. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Add spinach during last 5 minutes. Sauce should be thick; if not, keep simmering until it thickens.

Prepare whole wheat lasagna noodles according to directions on the box. To make sure you get real whole grain noodles by checking the fiber content per serving. Healthy noodles will have about 6 grams of fiber per serving.

In large mixing bowl add cottage cheese, mozzarella, parmigiana, and parsley.

In a large pan, spread sauce to cover bottom. Layer, noodles, sauce then cheese. I prefer to add sauce then cheese on the top layer. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes.

Makes a whole meatless shit ton.

Tips:

• If you choose fat-free mozzarella, make your last layer cheese then sauce. The sauce will keep the cheese moist and keep it from getting that hard plastic baked fat-free cheese texture.
• If you are not into cottage cheese you can use fat free or low fat ricotta. I prefer cottage cheese because it keeps the lasagna from getting too dense and has a better texture overall for my taste.
• Vegan fag? Substitute soy cheese for the mozzarella and make a mixture of steamed cauliflower and tofu in the food processor to replace the ricotta.
• Substitute red wine for white if you want a richer taste. The wine really adds great flavor to the soy crumbles.
• Other cool stuff to add: Hard boiled eggs, roasted poblano peppers, weed and artichoke hearts all make for interesting lasagna.

This recipe could also be made gluten free by substituting gluten-free lasagna noodles. You can also use vegan cheese.

INGREDIENTS

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
* 3 tablespoons minced garlic
* 4 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
* 1/3 cup tomato paste
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
* 1/2 cup chopped parsley
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles
* 2 pounds firm tofu
* 2 tablespoons minced garlic
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
* 1/4 cup chopped parsley
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* ground black pepper to taste
* 3 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

DIRECTIONS

1. Make the sauce: In a large, heavy saucepan, over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Place the onions in the saucepan and saute them until they are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic; cook 5 minutes more.
2. Place the tomatoes, tomato paste, basil and parsley in the saucepan. Stir well, turn the heat to low and let the sauce simmer covered for 1 hour. Add the salt and pepper.
3. While the sauce is cooking bring a large kettle of salted water to a boil. Boil the lasagna noodles for 9 minutes, then drain and rinse well.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
5. Place the tofu blocks in a large bowl. Add the garlic, basil and parsley. Add the salt and pepper, and mash all the ingredients together by squeezing pieces of tofu through your fingers. Mix well.
6. Assemble the lasagna: Spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch casserole pan. Arrange a single layer of lasagna noodles, sprinkle one-third of the tofu mixture over the noodles. Distribute the spinach evenly over the tofu. Next ladle 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce over the tofu, and top it with another layer of the noodles. Then sprinkle another 1/3 of the tofu mixture over the noodles, top the tofu with 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce, and place a final layer of noodles over the tomato sauce. Finally, top the noodles with the final 1/3 of the tofu, and spread the remaining tomato sauce over everything.
7. Cover the pan with foil and bake the lasagna for 30 minutes. Serve hot and enjoy.

Courtesy of AllRecipes.com