All this recent celebrating has left me feeling heavy and tired. It all started with Marco’s birthday Feast of the Seven Kingdoms, continued with Christmas, New Years and Serbian Christmas. All that delicious food was meat and dairy heavy, which are the two things that I don’t run well on. They were also not great for eating during the heat of summer. So as part of my New Years goals, I am going to start eating lighter. I still wanna enjoy my favourite homely dishes, but I need to modify them a little.

This lasagne is a quite light and guilt free. It has no dairy and is packed full of protein and flavour. Tofu has been used in place for real Ricotta. I adapted the ricotta recipe from Chloe Coscarelli’s Rockin Ricotta. The blend of ingredients doesn’t have that typical soy flavour. It tastes light and bright. There is no need for cheese substitutes either.

Feel free to make alterations to the lasagne sheets or vegetables. Gluten-free pasta can be used instead if semolina pasta doesn’t agree with you. Shredded carrot, shaved broccoli or baby spinach would all work nicely.

I made this dish for my daughter and her little cousin, who is seven. Octavia gladly gobbled it up because lasagne and tofu are her favourites. My niece, however, isn’t a big fan of tofu, but she still gave it a try. She was very happy with it. The only thing she complained about was the mushrooms, but since there weren’t many she agreed to eat them. I admit it’s not the prettiest lasagne, but if the kids liked it, mission accomplished.

Vegan Ricotta and Veggie Lasagne

(vegan, nut free, gluten free option)

Ingredients:

olive oil

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

2 tbsp lemon juice

450 g firm tofu, pressed

50 g basil leaves

2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

2 cups sliced mushrooms

700ml passata sauce (Mutti or good-quality brand)

350 ml water

2-3 tbsp sundried tomato pesto

1 medium zucchini, shredded

250 g lasagne sheets

2 tomatoes, sliced

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.
2. First to make the ricotta. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and add the onion. Saute until browned.
3. Get a large process bowl set up. Add the sauteed onion, garlic, lemon juice, firm tofu, basil leaves, sea salt and black pepper. Blend for 20 seconds or until the tofu is crumbled, and the rest of the ingredients are finely chopped.
4. Heat passata sauce, water and pesto in a saucepan. Bring to the boil then let it simmer for 5-10 minutes. Season to taste.
5. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and saute the mushrooms. Cook for few minutes, until they are browned.
6. Take a large rectangular baking tray and beginning by putting 1-2 ladles of sauce on the bottom and then top with lasagne sheets. Next add layers of ricotta, shredded zucchini and mushrooms and sauce, until all the ingredients have been used. Make sure you leave enough sauce for the top layer of lasagne sheets.
7. Top the lasagne with some sliced tomato and bake for 40-50 minutes.

*Serves 8