Vegan Pasta Bake (or Lasagna)

This recipe comes from the cookbook Veganomicon, which I highly recommend to anyone looking to cook more meatless dishes.

I love this because it passes as a comfort food without any meat or cheese. And, it's loaded with leafy greens! If you need to be sneakier with the greens, chop them finer and mix them right into the "ricotta" layer so they can't be picked out as easily. :)

I brought a "pasta bake" to the meeting instead of a lasagna simply because I had whole wheat penne on hand and no lasagna noodles. So you can use whichever floats your boat.

The dish has four components:

1 lb of whole wheat pasta, cooked. I like to boil it a minute shorter than I normally would, so it won't get overdone when I bake the lasagna.

2 lb of greens, steamed and coarsely chopped. This can include spinach, chard, or whatever you have. I used 3 10z boxes of leaf spinach and sauteed them with a little onion and garlic, then let them cool. I squeezed out most of the water at that point.

Your favorite spaghetti sauce. I make a simple sauce from scratch:
-I saute 10 cloves fresh garlic, minced in 1 TBS olive oil.
I add 3 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes, 3/4 tsp dried thyme, 3/4 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp salt (if your tomatoes don't have salt in them), and some ground black pepper.
I simmer it at least 15 minutes, but ideally quite a bit longer!


The "ricotta" layer. It's actually cashews mixed up with tofu like so:
1 cup raw cashews (8 oz)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 TBS olive oil
4 cloves fresh or roasted garlic
2 pounds firm tofu, drained and crumbled
1 TBS dried basil
1 TBS salt

Throw the first four ingredients in a food processor and blend until creamy. Then add the tofu and blend some more. Finally, when it's smooth, blend in the basil and salt.


To layer your lasagna:
Use a deep casserole dish, or a 9x13 regular pan AND and 8x8 square. It makes a lot! :)

1/2 cup of sauce at the bottom, followed by 1/3 of the noodles, 1/2 the "ricotta", 1/2 the spinach, 1/3 of the remaining sauce. Then noodle, ricotta, spinach, and sauce. Finally, top with noodles and the rest of the sauce.

Cover it with foil and bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 375 F. Uncover and bake another 20 minutes or so. Let stand 10 minutes and devour.