Meat Veggie Lasagna Food

WORLD'S BEST (NOW VEGETARIAN!) LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring, until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in plant-based sausage, meat substitute crumbles, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, 1 tablespoon parsley, sugar, basil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, Italian seasoning, fennel seeds, and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add lasagna noodles; cook 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and rinse noodles with cold water.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Meanwhile, stir together egg, ricotta, remaining 2 tablespoons parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl.
• To assemble lasagna, spread 1/3 of the sauce in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over sauce. Spread with 1/2 of the ricotta mixture. Top with 1/3 of the mozzarella slices. Spoon 1/3 of the sauce over mozzarella and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan. Repeat layers and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
• Bake, covered with cooking spray-coated foil, for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes more. Cool for 15 minutes before slicing into 12 equal servings.

BEEF AND VEGETABLE LASAGNE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).
• Heat oil, saute onion and garlic for 2 minutes.
• Remove approx half to a saucepan, heat and add mushrooms, canned tomatoes, zucchini, 1 tablespoon of the tomato paste, carrot, pepper and basil.
• Stir over a low heat for 20 minutes until sauce thickens.
• Meanwhile, add minced beef to the remaining onion and garlic and stir till pink colour is gone.
• Add fresh tomatoes, remaining tomato paste and stock and simmer 10 mins or until cheese sauce completed.
• Melt butter in a saucepan, remove from heat.
• Add flour, stir with a wooden spoon.
• Replace on low heat and heat for 30 seconds, stirring continuously.
• Remove from heat and add milk gradually, stirring vigourously, until smooth.
• Replace on heat and stir till boiling.
• Reduce heat and stir 1 minute.
• Add mustard, stir well, remove from heat and add 1/2 cup grated cheese. Put lid on saucepan.
• Place a layer of vegetable sauce on bottom of a large lasagne pan.
• Cover sauce with lasagne noodles, then spinach, then meat sauce, then noodles again.
• Continue with layers until used up. Final layer should be lasagne.
• Cover with cheese sauce and sprinkle with remaining grated cheese.
• Bake for 30 mins until cheese is melted and golden brown.

VEGETARIAN LASAGNA

Steps:

• For the sauce: Put the olive oil and garlic in a medium pot over low heat. Cook the garlic, stirring occasionally at first and more often as it colors, until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-low, add the onions and a large pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, basil sprig, thyme and 1 teaspoon salt, raise the heat to medium and bring the sauce to a lively simmer. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until quite thick (if you draw a spoon through the sauce, you'll see the bottom of the pot for a few seconds before the sauce fills back in), about 30 minutes. As the sauce thickens, turn the heat down a bit so the bottom doesn't scorch. Stir in the chopped basil. Let cool to room temperature before assembling the lasagna. (Makes 1 quart.)
• To assemble: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Squeeze the spinach in your hands to remove as much liquid as possible. Put it in a large bowl, and stir in the ricotta, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, the egg, 1 teaspoon salt and the nutmeg.
• Spread 3/4 cup of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Lay 3 lasagna noodles across the sauce (they won't touch). Spread 3/4 cup tomato sauce on top. Dollop 1/3 of the ricotta mixture (about 1 cup) across the sauce, and use the back of a spoon to spread it (it will smush into the tomato sauce, which is fine). Scatter 1 cup of the mozzarella on top.
• Repeat the layering 2 more times. Top with the last 3 noodles, spread the last 3/4 cup tomato sauce over them and scatter the remaining 1 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan over the top. Spray a large piece of foil with cooking spray, and cover the baking dish.
• Bake until the noodles are soft and the cheese has melted, about 40 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue to bake until the cheese is bubbling and the lasagna is slightly browned around the edges, about 15 minutes more. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

GLUTEN FREE MEAT AND VEGGIE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Cook lentils according to package directions.
• Chop onion and bell pepper, and shred zucchini.
• Place 2 T Olive oil in large deep pan and heat on medium.
• Add Onion and zucchini to heated pan, cook for about 4 minutes.
• Press garlic into skillet mixture and stir allowing to cook approx 1 more minute.
• Set vegetables aside and in the same pan brown the ground beef.
• While the beef is browning, add the cooked lentils to the sauteed veggie mix.
• When the meat is brown add the cans of tomato paste, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian sausage seasoning, Italian seasoning, oregano, and salt.
• Stir the veggie mixture back into the pan and turn heat to low. Cook 30 minutes stirring occasionally.
• While the sauce is simmering, make the ricotta mixture. Fine chop the spinach leaves. Remove the rosemary leaves from the stalk. Place spinach, rosemary, eggs, ricotta, and parmesan in a medium/large bowl and stir to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• When the sauce has finished cooking, add champaign vinegar and remove from heat. Adjust seasoning to taste. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Fine chop basil leaves.
• Place 2 cups tomato sauce in the bottom of a 13x9 baking pan. Top with 4 lasagna noodles and if desired, break up 1-2 more noodles so they will fit the pan (we found a 3 layer lasagna to be better as the top layer of noodles didn't cook very well).
• Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles.
• Top with desired amount of mozzarella then sprinkle 1/4 of the chopped basil.
• Repeat the last 3 steps twice. Saving the last 1/4 of basil until after the lasagna has baked.
• Cover the lasagna pan with foil and bake for 50 minutes.
• Remove from oven and prior to serving sprinkle the last of the fresh basil on top.

VEGETARIAN LASAGNA (THAT MEAT EATERS WILL LOVE!)

Steps:

• For this recipe, you are essentially just creating the different elements for the lasagna and then layering them. There is a tomato sauce layer, a pasta layer, a béchamel sauce layer, and a cheese layer.
• Saute the garlic and onion in a large, wide bottomed saucepan.
• Meanwhile chop up your zucchini, mushrooms, and tofu, if using. Size is what you prefer. You can put them through a food processor if you are running short on time or better yet, pass this job to your lowly sous-chef.
• When the onions are nearly softened, add the chopped veggies (and tofu) to the saucepan.
• Once the vegetables are somewhat softened, add the tomato puree, bay leaf, oregano, dried basil, chili powder, salt and pepper. Taste as you go for your preference in saltiness and spiciness. Remember, ambitious guests can always add more spice at the table.
• Bring the tomato sauce to a simmer and then keep it aside on a very low heat.
• Now create the béchamel sauce. Melt the butter into a saucepan and then slowly add the flour, stirring constantly as you go.
• Once the butter and flour are blended, slowly add the milk, again stirring as you do.
• Now add the softened goat cheese to the mixture and stir until blended. Spice the sauce with salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste. Lastly, let simmer until thickened. Add milk if it thickens too quickly (you want a gravy consistency).
• Now you are ready for assembly. Pour a spoonful of sauce onto the bottom of a large (9x13 inch) baking dish (glass or aluminum) to just cover the surface. Then add a layer of lasagna noodles, a layer of sauce, a layer of mozzarella, and then another layer of lasagna. For the next layer, add a thick layer of the goat cheese bechemal sauce. Continue layering, adding in fresh basil leaves as you like in the middle layers. Finish off with a layer of lasagna topped with mozzarella.
• Bake about 25 minutes in ? degree oven and serve to great delight.
• NOTE: For a more robust tomato sauce, you can use Alan Leonetti's marinara sauce recipe (Recipe #84217), especially if you've made it in advance and frozen it.
• NOTE: Variation With Ground Beef: To make a more traditional meat lasagna I follow the same recipe as above but I omit the tofu (of course!) and the goat cheese. I still use the mushroom and courgette/zucchini but I cut back on the amount. I brown the beef in a separate pan and then combine it in the layer of tomato and vegetable sauce. The addition of the courgette/zucchini and mushroom in with the meat it usually a welcome twist!

VEGAN VEGGIE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat over to 350 degrees.
• In a blender or food processor, combine the tofu, soy milk, oregano, basil, salt, lemon juice, garlic, and onion. Blend until the mixture has the consistency of ricotta cheese.
• Stir in the chopped spinach and set aside.
• In a large saucepan, saute the red pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, carrots in the oil until crisp-tender. (Feel free to add any other veggies that you like. I just use the ones listed as a starting point.).
• Stir in the tomato sauce and water.
• Bring to boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. (If you find that the veggie mix is too thin, uncover for last 5 minutes.).
• Cover bottom of lasagna pan with 1/2 cup tomato sauce.
• Layer with lasagne noodles, trimming to fit, if needed.
• Cover with a layer of 1/2 the tofu mixture, then layer of noodles, then layer of 1/2 the veggie mixture, then layer of noodles, then remaining tofu mixture, another layer of noodles, and then top with the remaining veggie mixture.
• Bake, uncovered for 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.