Plant Based Lasagna

Lasagna has always been a family favorite, and I've had to try several recipes until I found a combination of two different recipes which we like. I've tweaked these recipes to my family's tastes, and omitted the oil and sugar from the original recipes. 

Here's a close up showing all of those lovely layers! 

While it takes a bit of time, and is done in 3 steps - Marinara, Ricotta Sauce, then the actual assembly, this recipe is probably my kid's most requested meal, and it feeds a crowd. 

Marinara

1 cup red lentils 

2.5 cups water

1/2 t. salt

Rinse lentils in a sieve, then combine ingredients and heat in a pan, boil in water for 15-20 minutes. 

Set aside. 

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1 medium onion - chopped

1 medium red, orange, or yellow bell pepper - chopped

5 large mushrooms - sliced

5-6 garlic cloves, minced

1 quart canned tomatoes, or equivalent (including juices)

1 six oz can tomato paste

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1-2 Tablespoons 100% pure maple syrup

1 teaspoon oregano

1.5 teaspoons fennel seeds - crushed

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 Tablespoon basil

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste - optional)

black pepper - to taste, optional

Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add oregano, paprika, fennel & basil and toast lightly, stirring constantly. Add fresh veggies and red wine vinegar. Saute until softened. Add water if needed to keep ingredients from sticking. 

Add tomatoes and remaining ingredients. Use a potato masher to break tomatoes down to desired chunkiness if needed. Season to taste. 

Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. Add additional water to thin if needed, or blend if a thinner consistency is desired. 

Add 3 c. cooked lentils to marinara, mix thoroughly.  Set aside.

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Cashew ~ Tofu Ricotta

1.5 cups raw cashews

16 ounces of firm tofu, cubed

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons chicken bouillon (optional)

3 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon smoked Paprika

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon oregano or Italian seasoning

Salt to taste

Place cashews in blender or food processor, process until ground to a medium fine consistency. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.  Set aside. 

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Lasagna

1-2 packages whole wheat or 100% semolina durum lasagna noodles

3 cups fresh spinach or greens

Preheat oven to 350* F. 

Line a large baking casserole dish with foil. 

Cover the bottom of the casserole dish with a thin layer of sauce. 

Arrange noodles in a single layer in casserole dish. Gently break off corners of needles if needed to make fit.

Using a spatula, spread a layer of ricotta over noodles. 

Cover noodles with a layer of spinach or greens. 

Cover greens layer with a layer of marinara sauce. 

Continue layering in this pattern until last layer. 

For the final layer spread ricotta onto the noodles, then cover with a final layer of marinara.

Sprinkle with finely grated cashews.

Bake for 1 hour. Allow to rest for 10 minutes prior to serving. 

Grilled Plant Based Pizza

Oh my goodness! In our quest to find a plant based pizza that we actually like, we may have hit pay dirt. It's been a long time since we've had a pizza that we liked. We've tried lots of different recipes, tweaking things here and there, and then....we decided that it would be fun to experiment with making pizza on the grill (which we had heard about, but never actually tried).  Our pizza stone actually broke...so there was something about desperation being the mother of invention going on as well here folks - just keeping it real.

Although there was some trepidation at first, we were so surpised at how much we loved grilled pizza. The best thing about this pizza (other than that it tastes awesome) is that the cooking time is less than 10 minutes max, once it hits the grill, and it doesn't heat up my oven and home in the summertime.
Note however that it takes some advance preparation to allow the dough to rise, and to prepare the tomato sauce, and cheese.  All of these can be made in advance.



Dough: Use THIS recipe, adapted from Plant Pure Nation for the Pizza Dough
Optional Tomato/Marinara Sauce: Use THIS recipe for the tomato/marinara sauce
Cheese: Use THIS recipe from It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken for the nut based vegan mozzarella cheese
Additional Chopped veggies of your choice
Olives, onions, mushrooms, artichokes, basil, peppers, pineapple, spinach, tomatoes....

Speed is of the essence once you begin to cook the pizza so make sure to have everything prepared and ready to go before putting it onto the grill.
When making the Mozarella cheese, do not cook it all of the way. Allow it to begin cooking, but before it gets too gooey, remove it from the heat. 

Prepare the breadstick dough recipe, stopping before step 10.
Prepare the tomato sauce and have it on hand.
Prepare the cheese sauce, slightly undercooked

Preheat grill, with closed cover, until it reaches between 475-600* F.

Once the dough has risen, make sure to cover the parchment paper well with coconut cream.
Place dough onto parchment paper and smooth out into pizza shape, using hands or rolling pin. I prefer the rustic style, since it gets a little mishapen when being placed onto the grill anyway. 

• Carefully slide or flip pizza dough from parchment paper, directly onto the grill. Quickly adjust or arrange as neeeded. 
• Close cover and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes. 
• Make sure that the upward facing side (which will be the bottom) has also been coated with coconut cream, and carefully flip pizza over to the other side. 
• Quickly spread the cheese sauce upon the dough using a spoon or rubber spatula, followed by the optional tomato/marinara sauce. 
• If the tomato sauce is desired, add it on top of the cheese, rather than under it. Also, if left off the pizza at this point, it can be used as an excellent dipping sauce once the pizza is cooked.  
• Quickly add all desired veggies and close lid. 
• Allow to cook for an additional 5-7 minutes, until cooked through. 
• The mozzarella will not look stretchy or melty like animal based mozzarella. 
• Carefully remove from grill, sliding onto a serving plate or pan. 
• Immediately slice and serve. 

Marinara all purpose sauce - vegan, whole food/plant based, no oil

I came across a recipe for marinara at brandnewvegan.com which I really liked....with a few tweaks of my own. My family devours this - as in, none left for my lunch the next day! This is vegan, plant based with no oils or processed sugars. And...this handy sauce can be used for a pizza sauce, a dipping sauce, lasagna, spaghetti, served over rice or other grains...so many possibilities!

Marinara

1 medium onion - chopped

1 medium red, orange, or yellow bell pepper - chopped

5 mushrooms - sliced

5-6 garlic cloves, minced

1 quart canned tomatoes, or equivalent (reserve juice)

1 six oz can tomato paste

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1-2 Tablespoons 100% pure maple syrup

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 Tablespoon basil

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste - optional)

black pepper - to taste, optional

Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add oregano, paprika & basil (if using dried spices) and toast lightly, stirring constantly. Add fresh veggies and red wine vinegar. Saute until softened. Add water if needed to keep ingredients from sticking. 

Add tomatoes and remaining ingredients. Use a potato masher to break tomatoes down to desired chunkiness if needed

. Season to taste. 

Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. Add reserved tomato juice or water to thin if needed, or blend if a thinner consistency is desired. 

Bread Sticks - Plant Based

What started out as a pizza dough recipe, turned into breadsticks that we couldn't leave alone. Crisp and crunchy on the outside, and soft and chewy on the inside - these have been a hit with all of the eaters in our home. 

(Adapted from Plant Pure Nation's Pizza Party). 

Pizza Dough 

(Note - I usually double this recipe)

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 ¾ teaspoon Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer (mixed with 1 Tablespoon water)

1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more

3 cups unbleached, white whole wheat flour (you can also use whole wheat flour here too)

1/2 cup cream from coconut milk (refrigerate or lightly freeze coconut milk beforehand so that cream will rise to the top)

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and maple syrup. Let stand until frothy.
2. Stir in the egg replacer, flour and salt. Knead for 6-8 minutes, until smooth.  Add more flour as needed if dough is too sticky to knead.
3. Place the dough in a bowl and cover with a damp towl. Set aside in a warm place to rise, until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
4. Punch down the dough and allow to double in size again, about 30 minutes.
5. During the second rise, preheat the oven to 450-500 degrees. Leave your pizza stone in the oven during the preheating. Preheat oven for 45 minutes!!
6. Place coconut cream into a glass dish or ramekin and lightly melt in microwave (10-20 seconds). 
7. Spoon a bit of the coconut cream onto a large piece of parchment paper, and smear around with hands - covering palms in process. 
8. Remove dough from mixing bowl, and pat out into a rectangle with hands. Use additional coconut cream to prevent sticking. 
9. Roll dough out to be  ¼ inch thick. 
10. Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into slices that are 1/2-1 inches wide, and 6-8 inches long. Shape or roll into breadsticks as needed by hand.
11. Place close together, but not touching on silpat, parchment paper, or hot pizza stone. 
12. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. 
13. Remove and immediately brush with the remaining melted coconut cream and lightly sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Optional - Sprinkle with garlic powder for a garlicky breadstick

Serve warm - excellent with this Marinara sauce 

 *Note - this recipe works great for a grilled pizza dough recipe as well.

Homemade Ravioli, Filling, and Red Pepper Garlic Alfredo Sauce

My kids love ravioli and tortellini, so with the kids on spring break, we decided to try our hand at making our own.  We made a basic pasta dough, and then came up with our own filling.


Dough

• 3 cups unbleached white flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup water
  Place flour and salt in a bowl and make a well in the center of the flour.Add 2 lightly beaten eggs, and begin to mix.  Add enough water to make a stiff dough.  While this recipe only calls for 1/2 c. water, I ended up putting almost 2.5 c. of water into mine.  So, depending on your humidity and altitude, you may need more or less. 
  Knead until smooth and mixed and place in a ziploc bag, or cover with plastic, and let sit for 30 minutes. 
  Working in sections, roll out dough (or use a pasta maker) into very thin sections. Fill with 1 tsp. filling.Using a pizza slicer, slice into sections.Fold dough over filling and seal the edges. Seal edges again with fork tines.  Edges may be moistened with milk or water if desired prior to sealing. 

Allow to dry for one hour.
Heat salted water to a boil.
Add raviolis, and cook until they float to the top; approximately 2-3 minutes.

Serve with an Alfredo sauce, marinara, or toss with clarified butter.

Sausage & Ricotta Ravioli Filling


1 c. sausage, browned, drained and crumbled
1 c. ricotta
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 c. red peppers finely diced
1 garlic clove - finely diced
2 T. green onions, finely chopped

Mix together and fill raviolis with 1 tsp.


Red Pepper & Garlic Alfredo Sauce

Melt 2 T. butter in skillet
Add 1/2 c. chopped red pepper and 1.5 t. finely chopped garlic.
Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring.
Add 1/4 c. flour and mix until peppers and garlic are coated.
Slowly add 1-2 c. milk, stirring constantly as a roux forms.
Add 1/4-1/2 c. parmesean cheese.
Add milk to thin if necessary.
Add 1/2 t. ground nutmeg.

Spoon over cooked ravioli and garnish with fresh red peppers and sliced green onions.