Vegan Winter Lasagne

If you're dating a vegan and you're a bacon-lover, you know what a pain in the keister making something romantic and delicious for them can be. This recipe actually tastes good to people who like food for food's sake; even Tony Bourdain would eat it and like it. I made it up, because periodically I throw down on the vegan challenge just for fun (vegan challenge: can you make something both delicious and vegan, with no weird processed vegan foods in it ). If it was summer, I'd use fresh tomatoes and make a tomato lasagne. Since this was made in the winter, it's made with seasonal veggies - spinach, eggplant, mushrooms etc.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 12
• Yields: 3 12

Ingredients

• Spinach Pesto Layer

• 2 1⁄2 lbs  raw spinach
• 1⁄2 head fresh garlic
• 2  cups walnuts (optional)
•  olive oil

• Eggplant Tapenade Layer

• 2  italian eggplants, cubed into 1cm squares
•  salt
• 20  green olives, pitted
• 3  tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
• 2  tablespoons tomato paste
• 1⁄4 cup olive oil
• 1 1⁄2 onions, chopped

• Mushroom Layer

• 1 1⁄2 lbs  dark mushrooms, like shitake mushrooms or 1 1⁄2 lbs portabella mushrooms
• 4  garlic cloves, sliced
•  olive oil
• 2  lbs  no-boil lasagna noodles
• 1⁄2 lb sharp cheddar cheese (optional, for non-vegans) or 1⁄2 lb gorgonzola (optional, for non-vegans)

Directions

1. Make the Eggplant Tapenade: cube and salt the eggplants. Pit the olives, and chuck them, the sun dried tomatoes, tomato paste and olive oil into the blender. When the eggplant is a little soft, toss it with the blended mixture and the chopped onions.
2. Make spinach pesto: wilt the spinach by dumping a kettle of boiling water over it. Use a strainer, and squeeze out all the excess green water. Dump the spinach, garlic, walnuts and a splash of olive oil into the blender and blend.
3. Make the mushroom layer: chop up the mushrooms, and the garlic. Sautee the mushrooms and garlic together until the mushrooms are just softened.
4. Assemble the lasagne: using lidded pyrex dishes (works better than tinfoil, over the top, but use what you got), put a layer of spinach pesto on the bottom, then put a layer of lasagne noodles, then a layer of the eggplant, then a layer of lasagne noodles in the opposite orientation of the last layer, then a layer of mushrooms, then a layer of lasagne noodles in the opposite orientation of the last layer, then a layer of eggplant, then a layer of lasagne noodles in the opposite orientation of the last layer, top with a layer of spinach pesto. Top with cheese if your partner is just a vegetarian, or pretend its tofu when they ask.
5. Should fill 3 12" square pyrex dishes. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Freeze leftovers trays whole in case you need some last minute food for a party later.