The French Babbette

This is an easy vegan lasagne recipe that I use, can easily add mozarella cheese if you like and make it vegetarian:

• 1 (14oz) package firm tofu, drained. A friend of mine gifted me some fresh tofu from the Asian market, which was awesome! No draining of water required and is so so fresh. I will be using this more often. 
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast 
• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1 cup fresh spinach, chopped 
• 1/2-1 cup choppped white onions 
• 2-3 garlic cloves 
• Salt and pepper, to taste 
• 2 (25-ounce) jars vegan marinara sauce (or homemade if you have) 
• 3 bell peppers, cored seeded and chopped (red, yellow or green are fine; mixture of the 3 is great too) 
• 12 no-boil dried lasagne noodles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease spray 9X13" baking dish with cooking spray; set aside. If using anything but fresh tofu, wrap tofu in 3/4 layers of paper towels and gently press out as much water as possible. Tranfer tofu to a large bowl and add yeast, 1 clove garlic, sale and pepper and mash with a fork. Set this aside.













Heat olive oil in large pan, cook onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and remaining garlic cloves until al dente, about 5-6 minutes. Stir in marinara sauce and simmer 8-10 minutes.

















Spoon enough marinara sauce into your baking dish to cover the bottom and then arrange 3-4 noodles on top. Spread 1/3 of the tofu mixture over the noodles, then sauce, then repeat 2 more times ending in sauce.
Cover with foil and bake until noodles are tender, 45-60 minutes. It'll be hot so let it sit for 10 minutes or so to cool enough to eat. Enjoy with a homemade salad & vinegrette along side sliced/toasted baguettes! Facile, piacevole e gustosa!

Labels: cooking, garden, kids, lasagne, vegan