Spring Vegetable Lasagna

Happy April Fool’s Day! Happy Birthday to my cousin Mike! Hope everyone is having a fantastic week. Easter is now 4 days away and you don’t need to eat ham or lamb!!! Here’s a spring vegetable lasagna recipe (vegan) that I created last weekend which would be a perfect Easter main dish. I was really happy with the way it came out – flavorful and filling, and I love all the colors of the fresh veggies. Hope you give this a try! There’s apparently a cold front coming to the mountains to take away our spring summer, so maybe we’ll get a white Easter?? Wishful thinking – Enjoy the rest of your week!

1 box lasagna noodles of choice

2 TBS EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

1 cup frozen peas

3/4 cup frozen corn

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 large yellow onion, diced

1 cup carrots, thinly sliced

1 cup asparagus, chopped

salt & pepper

nutmeg

3 cups almond milk

3 TBS earth balance vegan butter

3 TBS flour of your choice

1 package extra firm tofu, drained & pressed

1 TBS nutritional yeast

2 flax eggs (2 TBS ground flax mixed with 5 TBS warm water, set for 10 min)

2 cups vegan shredded mozzarella

4 TBS vegan parmesan

2 handfuls fresh basil leaves, chopped/sliced/chiffonade

Optional: Truffle Oil

Cook noodles according to package, then drain, run over cold water & lay out on wax paper until ready to use.

Chop all your veggies, then heat the EVOO in a large skillet.  First, add the onion, carrots, asparagus, sprinkle of salt and pepper, and cook until veggies start to soften.  Next, add in the mushrooms, peas, corn, garlic, another sprinkle of salt and pepper, and this time add a small sprinkle of nutmeg. Cook until all veggies start to soften.

While the veggies are cooking, you can whip up your tofu ricotta.  Mix the drained & pressed tofu in a bowl with 1 tsp salt, the nutritional yeast and the flax eggs.

Next you can put your topping together – in another bowl mix together the vegan mozzarella, vegan parmesan and basil.

When the veggies are softened, take off the heat and set aside with your tofu ricotta and topping.  Time to make the cream sauce.  Heat the earth balance in sauce pan on medium and whisk in the flour.  Keep whisking for a few minutes to cook away the flour taste.  Put the almond milk in the microwave for 1-2 minutes to warm slightly.  Whisk in the almond milk to the flour/earth balance mixture.  Keep whisking to avoid lumps!  Keep the heat on and stir until the sauce thickens slightly – it’s ok if it doesn’t get super thick.  Take off the heat and sprinkle in some salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Taste to make sure it is delicious!  Adjust the salt/pepper/nutmeg to your taste.

Time to make lasagna!  Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Get a large 9×13 baking dish ready.

Mentally divide all your layers in thirds… then start your first layer by spreading a third of each in this order:  white sauce, noodles, couple dots of tofu ricotta, sprinkle of veggies, and finally sprinkle of the mozz/basil topping.

Repeat this 2 more times, ending with the mozz/basil topping.  Cover with foil and bake for 40-45 minutes.  Take out of the oven the last 10 minutes to melt the cheese on top.  Let stand 10 minutes before attempting to make that first cut in… Don’t forget about the optional topper, my favorite ingredient, truffle oil! Hope you enjoy!