Mom's lasagna revisited: a meatless and cheeseless lasagna that even your mother could love - Recipe Redux - includes recipes

Vegetarian Times, Oct, 1997 by Kathy Farrell-Kingsley

A meatless and cheeseless lasagna that even your mother could love.

When I was growing Up, one of the few dishes my mother made that demonstrated her Italian heritage was lasagna. It was a Neapolitan-style lasagna with tomato sauce, ricotta and mozzarella--the standard (and very good) recipe that we all know.

As the food editor of Vegetarian Times, I have received many requests for a vegan lasagna. In my quest to create such a recipe, it occurred to me that I could easily adapt my mother's time-honored recipe by simply replacing the ricotta mixture and shredded mozzarella with crumbled tofu flavored with garlic and fresh herbs. It seemed to me that the texture and flavor of tofu would make a good cheese substitute. Using tofu also would reduce the fat content--an added bonus.

Well, the substitution works--and with delicious results. But a food editor just can't leave well enough alone; I experimented even further. Adding a layer of roasted red bell peppers, chopped spinach or grilled sliced eggplant (or zucchini) produced a more colorful, flavorful lasagna as did mixing in chopped kalamata olives or capers to the tofu mixture. Like most pasta recipes, this vegan lasagna is wonderfully versatile, limited only by the cook's imagination.

You might wonder how my mother reacted to all the changes I made. She tasted it, smiled and said "very interesting." Coming from my mother, this was high praise, indeed.

Vegan Lasagna

12 SERVINGS VEGAN

The tomato sauce recipe makes enough to serve on the side or to freeze and enjoy later with pasta.

Tomato Sauce

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz. can tomato paste
3 (28-oz.) cans peeled plum tomatoes,
  chopped with juices reserved
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano tsp. crushed
  red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

1 Tbs. salt
1 lb. dry uncooked eggless lasagna noodles
2 (16-oz.) packages firm tofu,
drained (see glossary.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and ground black pepper to taste