Quick & Easy Lasagna
No need to spend hours in the kitchen to simply make a lasagna.
Using a few pre-prepped items will really cut the time but not the flavor.
Shopping list:
- A jar (or two) of your favorite store bought marinara
- A package of your favorite lasagna noodles – I love using either whole wheat noodles or brown rice noodles.
- A package of your favorite shredded vegan mozzarella cheese – my favorites are Violife or Follow Your Heart.
- A container of your favorite vegan ricotta cheese – Tofutti or Kite Hill are my favorites.
- A bunch of fresh basil
- A mix of your favorite veggies – onions, mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, etc.
- A package of your favorite parmesan cheese – Violife is my absolute favorite.
If you’d like to make it a little “meatier” the addition of Beyond Meat Italian Sausages are perfect!
A few simple steps:
- Cook lasagna noodles, drain, rinse and lay on some wax paper, cover with a damp towel until ready to assemble.
- Cook diced up sausage, drain, set aside.
- Dice up veggies and saute until tender, once cooked combine with cooked sausage, add some greens (spinach) and let wilt, set aside.
- Mix ricotta cheese with some shredded vegan parmesan and chopped fresh basil.
- Set up your assembly station with the jar(s) of marinara, cooked veggie and sausage mix, ricotta mix, shredded cheese and noodles.
Begin with a layer of marinara to cover the bottom of baking dish, then layer approximately 3 noodles over the sauce. Layer noodles accordingly to size of your dish, you want the layers to pretty much cover the bottom of dish.
Spread an even layer of ricotta cheese on each noodle, top with a layer of
veg/sausage mix, sprinkle with shredded cheese. Then start the layers all over – Marinara, noodles, ricotta, veg/sausage mix, shredded cheese. You can do two or three layers, but just make sure you end with a layer of noodles covered with marinara & a sprinkling of cheese.
Spray cooking oil onto a piece of foil and cover the lasagna dish, sprayed side down, seal and bake in a 375°F oven for about 25 minutes or until it starts to get bubbly. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes until cheese melts and the sauce is hot and bubbly.
Dinner is served!
So many ways to build on this by adding more of your favorite fresh
herbs into the ricotta, combining more then one type of shredded
cheese (cheddar, jack, etc), adding some roasted garlic, canned or
frozen artichoke hearts or trying some other vegan “meats” such as,
chick’n, soy crumbles or marinated soy curls.
Have fun, experiment and find your favorite combinations. This is
also a great make ahead dish, prep it on a Sunday and have it ready
to go for the week ahead when you don’t have time or feel like
cooking. You’ll be so glad that you did!
Buon Appetito!
Quick & Easy Veggie Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 pkg Beyond Meat Beyond Sausage Hot Italian lInks or your favorite meatless sausage
- 1 ½ cup each of your favorite vegetable (onions, mushrooms, zucchini, etc)
- 3 cloves fresh garlic minced
- 2 cups baby spinach chopped
- 1 bunch fresh basil chopped
- 1 pkg vegan ricotta
- 1 pkg vegan shredded cheese, mozzarella, cheddar, jack, etc. I love using Violife or Follow Your Heart brands
- 1 pkg vegan parmesan cheese
- 1 pkg lasagna noodles cooked until al dente
- 1-2 jars your favorite marinara or pasta sauce I love Rao's
- salt & pepper to taste
- italian seasoning to taste
- red chili flakes to taste, optional
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Spray a 9×13 baking dish, set aside.
- When water boils, cook lasagna noodles per package directions to al dente. Drain when done and lay flat on wax paper or parchment paper and cover with damp towel until ready to assemble.
- While noodles cook, dice sausage and veggies.
- Cook sausage in a hot, non-stick skillet until cooked through and crisp. Remove from skillet, drain and set aside.
- Wipe out skillet and add the diced veggies and cook until tender, season to taste with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and red chili flakes. When veggies are cooked add sausage and mix to combine.
- Mix ricotta cheese, some shredded parmesan cheese and fresh basil and/or any other fresh herbs you'd like.
- Set up assembly station: prepared baking dish, marinara or pasta sauce, noodles, cooked veg/sausage mix, ricotta mixture, shredded cheese.
- Start by spreading a layer of sauce on the bottom of prepared baking dish, followed by a layer of lasagna noodles. Spread an even layer of ricotta cheese onto the noodles. Spread a layer of veg/sausage mixture over the ricotta layer, then sprinkle with shredded cheese. Then repeat – sauce, noodles, ricotta, veg/sausage mix, shredded cheese, ending with a layer of noodles topped with sauce and sprinkled with shredded cheese.
- Cover dish with a piece of aluminum foil sprayed with cooking oil. Bake for 25 minutes until bubbly. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes until cheese has melted and sauce is bubbly.
- Remove from oven when done and let sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting.Sprinkle with some extra shredded parmesan cheese and fresh herbs.
