Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Vegetable Lasagna


Ah, culinary success! I have been wanting to make a lasagna but have had an AWFUL time finding a recipe that didn't include tofu. We don't like using soy products because of the estrogen and simply because some of them are truly not good for you. I found a wonderful recipe on Sunday that suggested using a basil pesto sauce instead of the mock cheese (which uses tofu) that is typically in the recipes. Evidently, the pesto sauce dries out during baking and has the same texture that ricotta cheese would have. So, I tried it tonight and YUM! We have a winner! We started with a layer of sliced roma tomatoes with a bit of marinara sauce drizzled on top. We followed with whole wheat lasagna noodles topped with marinara and a thin layer of basil pesto (sauteed pine nuts, basil, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, agave syrup, & water pureed). Then came the layers of veggies. The first layer was sliced carrots and chopped broccoli followed by noodles, marinara and pesto. The second layer was mushrooms (shitake) & sliced zucchini followed by more noodles, marinara and pesto. Then topped with a layer of sliced roma tomatoes and thinly sliced mozarella cheese. Yes, the cheese makes this dish vegetarian and NOT vegan, but mozarella doesn't seem to bother me, so we add it sparingly. The masterpiece is bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes and the last 5 minutes we remove the lid and broil to make the cheese bubble and crispy. Voila! Vegetable Lasagna and OH SO TASTY!

1 comment:

jennifer said...

This picture looks like it came right out a cookbook! Looks yummmy! I want that recipe!