27 Aug The lasagna you didn’t know you needed

Lasagna is a dish the Rebel crew all agrees is a delicious staple at the dinner table. Coming from various backgrounds, we found common ground in growing up eating lasagna in some form. When it was time to test out a new entree, there was no debate when vegan lasagna was suggested by a crew member. We eagerly agreed to take on the challenge, but developing a healthy vegan version required tremendous creativity and effort. On our first attempt, the recipe didn’t come out as tasty as we expected. We had many issues including the vegan cheese not melting properly to create a melted cheese effect, and the tomato sauce lacking flavor. At first, the overall taste didn’t quite have the delicious flavor we were used to, and we were not satisfied with its presentation. As a new crew member, I decided to take the lead in developing a recipe that the entire crew would like, so it would not need continuous tweaking. In starting this new recipe the first question I had was how could we find something to mimic the ricotta cheese that’s found in a typical lasagna recipe? After some research, I learned that by using silken and firm tofu along with nutritional yeast and an array of seasonings, we could create a similar texture and flavor. We had many trials and errors, such as the texture being too smooth and the flavor being a bit off, and not adding enough ingredients or adding to many ingredients, but in a few weeks we managed to perfect it. To solve the problem of the cheese not melting properly, a crew member brought up the idea of making a “cheese” sauce from scratch using carrots and potatoes. In the first week of testing the sauce recipe, it was perfect, and was the perfect topping for the lasagna. Another component we needed to change was the tomato sauce.The new recipe includes three different types of canned tomatoes including whole peeled tomatoes that we crushed by hand, along with freshly chopped onion and garlic, basil, and spinach. To give it a meaty texture we added textured vegetable protein (TVP), which absorbs the liquid and softens to give the sauce a texture that mimics the ground meat we were used to having in lasagna. Considering how every ingredient was made from scratch, we saw no reason not to make the noodles from scratch. Incorporating spinach into them, we found an easy to make noodle recipe that pairs well with the other ingredients. We’ve perfected a lasagna recipe that is healthy, tasty and reminded us of the lasagna we grew up eating. We wouldn’t mind this recipe being the new dinner staple in our homes.

Click to watch more about the making of this lasagna.