I usually use eggplant in place of lasagna noodles because of the whole… alergic to pasta thing but I encourage you to use it if you’re so inclined. The great thing about eggplant is that it’s also low in calories relative to traditional semolina pasta and has a lot of fiber and nutrients that pasta lacks. I’m biased. I dig plants.
For this recipe I took a large sized eggplant (2 medium would do) and sliced it thin. I wouldn’t recommend soaking the eggplant for this recipe since it can get kinda soupy if you do.I leave the skin on but you can remove it if you want. Pre-cooking the eggplant will result in a softer texture, you can do this by pan frying it or baking it until golden brown. This is my recipe for vegan ‘ricotta’. It’s a little more flavorful than regular ricotta cheese but I doubt anyone will complain. In your blender or food processor, combine the following:
1 16oz. box firm silken tofu (I like Mori-nu for this recipe)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional but recommended)
1tsp garlic powder
1 2 tsp starch (I used arrowroot)
1 pinch nutmeg
garlic salt to taste
Blend all of this until it’s uniform and creamy. After this mixing step, I added 2 generous handfuls of spinach – this is optional but a girl needs her iron.
I blended it lightly and then spread it on a layer of eggplant that I had positioned on a lightly oiled baking dish.
I put another layer of eggplant on top, (you can make more layers if you want but it’ll take longer to cook) followed by a generous helping of your favorite pasta sauce. I buy whatever is vegan, gluten-free and on sale. Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes. Remove the foil, toss on some crushed walnuts, if desired and bake another 20 minutes.
I served it garnished with some sliced olives and fresh basil.
This is Christie, signing off… I will probably eat that whole dish of lasagna tonight.
Yum
If you use standard firm tofu and grind up some cashews first, it comes out with the same texture as ricotta. 🙂
Interesting suggestion, Izzy, I’ll have to try it. I find the starch makes it ‘firm up’ after cooking but still easy to spread. I bet this would be great when I make cannelloni. Thanks!
I’m not huge on eggplant, but this looks and sounds good enough to give a go. Solid.
I just printed out the recipe to try. It looks delicious. Hmmm, I think I may sprinkle some DAIYO mozzarella cheese on it. What do you think about that addition? Too much???