PASTA BAKE / LASAGNA
Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS:
Also listed in the recipe itself because who has time to flip back and forth between ingredients and instructions.
Box of pasta, or box of lasagna noodles (we like Barilla protein+ or just whatever box of pasta you’ve had in your cupboard for the past 6 months)
Two jars of marinara sauce
A half a cup of nooch (aka nutritional yeast, but we try not to think about that)
One block of tofu
Some lemon juice
Some unsweetened, unflavored plant milk
6oz bag of slivered almonds (or one cup-ish)
A little bit of agave or sugar or maple syrup, anything sweet
Salt, pepper, garlic powder
Optional, romanticize-your-dinner ingredients:
Vegan parmesan cheese
Parsley
Fresh chopped spinach or kale
Vegan ground beef crumbles or crumbled vegan sausage or both, you do you
DISHES USED (SO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE UP AGAINST AFTER DINNER):
Blender (we know, but it’s worth it trust us)
Large pot for boiling water
Baking pan
Colander / strainer
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Boil a big pot of water, add box of pasta, stir and taste noodles occasionally until soft (or just cook according to the box instructions if that’s too adventurous)
While pasta is cooking, add the following to a blender to make a cheesy ricotta-ish mixture: one block of tofu, 6oz. bag of slivered almonds (or one cup - ish), 1/4 - 1/2 cup of nooch depending on cheesiness preferences, a few big pinches of salt, a solid 3-4 shakes of garlic powder, a few healthy dashes of lemon juice, a tiny dash of agave, and enough plant milk that the mixture will blend smoothly (adding small splashes of oat milk as needed if you’re having trouble blending).
Pep talk: Trust yourself! It’s hard to mess this up and it’ll probably taste delicious no matter what. Add small dashes and sprinkles of salt, garlic, nooch, agave, lemon as needed until you’re happy with it. Final flavor profile should be pretty balanced, but leaning sweet, sour, and a little nutty.
Optional: If you’re including vegan ground beef or sausage, cook that up in a frying pan with a splash of oil now.
Check on the pasta, once it’s cooked, drain and set aside.
To the bottom of a large baking pan (the one you probably make brownies or casseroles in), add a big dash of marinara sauce (so your noodles don’t stick to the bottom of the pan), then layer your heart out! Noodles, then marinara, then your cheesy ricotta mixture, and repeat. Ending with ricotta mixture on top.
Optional: Don’t forget to layer in your vegan meats if you made them, and/or your chopped spinach or kale if you wanted to add those.
Baking pan goes in the oven at 425 degrees for 20-30 minutes or so — everything is already cooked so it’s really just to heat everything through and bring the bake together nicely. If the top starts to brown too quickly, you can cover the top with aluminum foil.
Optional toppings:
Add parm sprinkle to the top of the pasta bake when it has roughly 5 min left to cook
You could also top with fresh parsley, cracked pepper, or chili flakes when serving
