Recipes

“Ricotta” lasagne

January 28, 2014

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at cooking a vegan lasagne for a while, and last night I took that plunge. At first I thought I would try following a recipe as I’ve never done this before – but after researching a bunch of different recipes online I thought I could come up with my own variation based on my tastes and what I like.

The lasagne came out really tasty – and you can hardly tell that the filling is made from tofu instead of ricotta. When blended with all the other vegetables and spices it takes on a real creamy, cheesy taste and texture.

If you’re interested in making the lasagne, here’s my recipe. Please keep in mind that my oven is ancient, so cooking temps and times may vary. I hope you enjoy!

Vegan ricotta lasagne

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups pasta sauce (approx.)
  • Wholewheat lasagne sheets

Tofu Ricotta:

  • 1 medium red onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, diced
  • Extra virgin olive oil (a tablespoon or so)
  • 2 celery stalks, diced
  • 1 cup (approx.) frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
  • 1 (14oz) package extra-firm or firm tofu, pressed
  • Large handful fresh basil leaves
  • 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp fine grain sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • Juice from one lemon
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes (optional)

1. Press the tofu in a tofu press to get rid of all the water. If you don’t have a tofu press, you can wrap it in paper towels and tea towels, place under something heavy and let sit for about 30 minutes.

2. Grease a large casserole dish (I used a square 1.5LT / 1.6QT Le Creuset pan) and preheat the oven to gas mark 6 or 7 (keep in mind my oven is ancient so you may need to adjust yours accordingly).

3. For the tofu ricotta: In a large skillet, sauté the onion in the oil for about 3 minutes until translucent, add garlic and sauté for around another 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add in the chopped celery and sauté for another 5 minutes or so. Add the lemon and toss in the spinach at the end and heat for a couple minutes

4. Put the tofu and basil into a food processor and add the nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Blitz quickly and then add the veggies and blitz until everything is smooth and well mixed. If the mixture is too dry, you may want to add a drizzle of olive oil.

5. Spoon about 1 cup of marinara sauce into the casserole dish and spread around. Add one layer of the lasagne sheets followed by a layer of the ricotta mixture. Then repeat: sauce, pasta, ricotta until the mixture runs out. For the top layer I add one final sheet of lasagne followed by a final layer of sauce.

6. Cover casserole dish and bake for about 45 min. Remove the tin foil and bake for about another 10 minutes until bubbly and golden on top (you may need to adjust these times for your oven).

7. Serve with vegan parmesan (cashews blitzed with salt in the food processor) and a side salad.

Enjoy!

  • Mr Fitz January 28, 2014 at 3:58 pm

    Thanks for this.. and love the idea of vegan parmesan!!

  • dropscone January 28, 2014 at 4:02 pm

    Looks yum! Are you able to point me in the direction of extra firm tofu? I’ve never found anything beyond firm around here.

    • lindsaybelle January 28, 2014 at 4:04 pm

      I just use Cauldron’s original tofu which you can buy (I think) in all major supermarkets over here – works great!

  • Elizabeth January 28, 2014 at 4:26 pm

    Thanks for posting this. I can’t wait to try it!
    I will most likely use whole wheat lasagna though since I am trying to eat no processed foods (white flour). It sure looks delicious though! Thanks!

    • lindsaybelle January 28, 2014 at 4:52 pm

      whole wheat lasagna is a great idea! I’ll probably use that next time as well 🙂

  • Laura January 28, 2014 at 5:03 pm

    This looks so gourmet and delicious! Saving this recipe for sure!

    • lindsaybelle January 28, 2014 at 6:39 pm

      Thank you! My husband took the leftovers into work today, and all his meat-eating employees devoured it, which I take as a very good sign!

  • Sun January 28, 2014 at 6:46 pm

    Ah, I was hoping you would post the recipe! Looks so delicious and I’m definitely trying this 😀

    • lindsaybelle January 28, 2014 at 8:18 pm

      thanks! it was perfect with your cashew parmesan on it too! 🙂

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  • Lauren Smith | The Oatmeal Artist December 22, 2014 at 12:43 am

    Phew! I made your recipe once last year, and I wanted it again for Christmas Eve dinner. My Pinterest link brought me to your old site, and I was devastated that my beloved recipe was gone!! So happy that I found it again. Love this recipe. <3

    • Leicester Veggie December 22, 2014 at 2:34 pm

      I’m so glad you liked it, and were able to make it back to the website! I changed the website URL a month or two after I started blogging, so may have lost a few others as well :/