Pesto Lasagna

Photo

www.weeklyveganmenu.blogspot.com

(updated 6.21.12)

Ingredients:

Pesto:

3 cups basil, leaves only

½ cup pine nuts

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic

salt and pepper, to taste

Ricotta:

1 pound tofu, firm, pressed for a few minutes

6 ounces baby spinach

2 garlic cloves, minced

1-2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper, to taste

Tomato Sauce:

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon sugar

salt and pepper, to taste

2 peppers, roasted, seeded and diced

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 onions, sliced thin

salt and pepper, to taste

28 lasagna noodles, dry, no-boil type

2 cups shredded vegan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Pesto:

In a food processor, grind the basil, nuts, olive oil and garlic until well processed. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reserve.

Ricotta:

In a food processor, blend the tofu, spinach, garlic and 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice. Add salt and pepper. Taste and add more lemon juice if desired. Reserve.

Tomato Sauce:

In a bowl, combine the tomato sauce, basil, oregano, sugar and salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning. Reserve.

Sauteed Onions:

In a medium saute pan, heat the oil on high heat. Add the onions and stir and cook for 5-10 minutes or until the onions are nicely sauteed. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reserve.

Assemble:

On the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan, add ½ cup of tomato sauce and ¾ cups of water.

Layer the Lasagna:

Lay 4 noodles on the sauce, overlapping if needed.

Spread a thin layer of pesto on the noodles, a little more than a ¼ of the pesto.

Add ¼ of the peppers.

Add ⅓ of the onions.

Add ½ cup of the cheese.

Lay 4 noodles on the cheese, overlapping if needed. Press on the noodles a bit, but don’t break them.

Spread a little more than ¼ of the ricotta on the noodles.

Top with ½ cup of the tomato sauce.

Repeat the layering of the lasagna 2 more times.

For the top layer, add the last 4 noodles, gently push on them, mix the remainder of the pesto and ricotta together, spread this on the noodles and add the last ½ cup of the cheese and the rest of the peppers.

Cover the dish very well with foil. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and allow it to rest, covered, for 10 minutes before cutting into.