Herbed Tofu Lasagna With Zucchini

Submitted by Annisette

"In this recipe, herbs and seasonings are added to tofu and mixed until creamy, and is used in place of ricotta cheese. It is important that you use the best marinara sauce you can find, and then drizzle each serving with the extra virgin olive oil. From VT April 2006."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 20mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 10

ingredients

• 2 (14 ounce) packages firm tofu, well-drained
• 1⁄2 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1⁄3 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
• 1⁄3 cup pine nuts
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1⁄4 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch slices (about 3 cups)
• 5 cups marinara sauce (the best you can find)
• 16 no-boil lasagna noodles
• extra virgin olive oil (for drizzling on each serving)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F; coat a 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Toast pine nuts: Place them in a dry skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly until golden (about 3 minutes).
3. In food processor, combine tofu, basil, parsley, toasted pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice, salt, red pepper flakes, and sugar. Blend until smooth and similar in texture to ricotta cheese.
4. In large non-stick skillet, heat oil and sauté the zucchini on medium-high heat just until they're tender (about 3 -5 minutes).
5. Spread 3 tablespoons of the marinara sauce on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Cover with a layer of noodles, overlapping them slightly.

6. Layer as follows:

7. 1/2 of the tofu mixture.
8. 1/2 of the zucchini mixture.
9. Layer of noodles.
10. Remaining tofu.
11. Remaining zucchini.
12. 1/2 cup marinara sauce.
13. Layer of noodles.
14. Remaining marinara sauce.
15. Cover pan with foil and bake 1 hour. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
16. Drizzle olive oil on each serving.

Reviews

[rachelcooksfood]

the tofu blend out of the blender was incredible. Like a creamy pesto but I think that cooking it for so long really makes it lose a lot of its incredible flavor. I give this recipe 4 stars just because I think it has such promise. Unfortunately, I think the long cook time is due to the no boil noodles...as I didn't have those I had to improvise a bit and cook mine ahead. As I can't eat gluten it unfortunately meant that my noodles were overcooked. That said, in future I think I could just cut the cook time to 20 or 30 minutes. It would retain a huge amount of flavor and the noodles won't be soggy. The tofu "ricotta" mixture will be an absolute keeper for me and probably find its way onto lots of other pasta dishes!

 

[DeeKay18]

Amazing tofu mixture! The blend of lemon juice and herbs completely transformed the tofu from this tastless, rubbery entity to an elegant, creamy filling.

 

[Maito]

The flavor was really good in this lasagna. You can't tell it is made with tofu, and the pine nuts are subtle. I added some red wine and DH does not like zucchini, so I used artichokes hearts, mushrooms, and caramelized onion. I was not able to find any lasagna noodles that are labeled "no boil", so I am not sure whether there is such a thing. I used the regular ones and a whole jar of tomato sauce to try and have plenty of liquid for them to cook in. It wasn't enough though for the top noodles. They still weren't soft at the end of baking. I added some more liquid and flipped them over for 15 more minutes, and that did the trick. Quite an enjoyable dish!

 

[MarkSmart924]

This was fantastic.The tofu mixture tasted just like ricotta cheese,if not just a little less heavy.I did add some sausage into the recipe.It came together quite easily and I had most of the ingredients in my home already.I've been looking for a dairy-free lasagna recipe and this did the trick.Thanks for posting it.

 

[Luinda Smigel]

Tonight was the second time I've made this and it came out much better this time around since we just got a food processor. Looking forward to leftovers!