LAB NOTES: Vegan Lasagna with “Meaty” Lentil Ragout
Hello All,
I recently came across a great simple vegan lasagna recipe on the Tasty, Thrifty, Timely YouTube channel ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SKr4q6X9Oc ) and blog. ( https://tastythriftytimely.com/simple-vegan-lasagna-with-lentil-meat/ )
I mostly followed the recipe, but tweaked it on the fly.
Here’s the original from the blog post.
ORIGINAL:
1.2 L pasta sauce (about 2 jars, you will likely have extra)
500 g lasagna noodles (see notes for oven-ready noodles)
LENTIL “MEAT”
Half a yellow onion, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups green lentils, dry (see notes for using pre-cooked lentils)
4 cups vegetable broth (homemade for extra savings)
1 bay leaf
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced (1 tbsp)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
½ cup toasted sunflower seeds, ground (sub pumpkin seeds or walnuts)
1 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
1 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce (or more tamari)
TOFU “CHEESE” SAUCE
350 g medium or soft tofu
¼ cup nutritional yeast
¾ tsp salt
¾ tsp garlic powder
1 cup plant milk, unsweetened
INSTRUCTIONS
*I have found that some brands of oven-ready lasagna noodles can take quite a while to cook. Using a larger amount of pastsa sauce helps to keep the lasagna moist but also helps to cook the noodles. For quicker preparation, I prefer using regular noodles and parboiling them according to the package instructions.
To make the lentil “meat” sauce, ensure you have rinsed and drained your dry lentils to remove any dirt or small rocks.
Add a touch of oil, broth or water to a large sauté pan. Sauté the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes until soft and fragrant. Season with a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
Add the rinsed and drained lentils, broth, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook, covered, for 15 minutes until most of the broth has been absorbed and the lentils are mostly cooked.
Add the chipotle in adobo sauce, cumin, smoked paprika, ground sunflower seeds, tamari, and worcestershire sauce. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until most of the water has been absorbed. The lentils should be fully cooked by now and you should be able to mash them a bit with the back of your spoon. Set aside.
Meanwhile, blend all of the ingredients to make the tofu cheese sauce. (The sauce shouldn’t be watery but it should be pourable. If your tofu was quite firm and the sauce is not pourable just add more plant milk to thin it).
Cook your noodles according to the package instructions. I find that adding a bit of olive oil to the cooking water can help to prevent any noodles from sticking.
To compile the lasagna, stir 1 ¼ cup (296 ml) pasta sauce into the lentil mixture to moisten it. Start the layers by spreading a thin layer of pasta sauce on the bottom of your baking dish. Then add a layer of noodles and another thin layer of sauce. Next; spoon on a layer of lentil “meat”, then drizzle a layer of tofu “cheese”, then lay noodles on top and repeat with sauce, “meat” and “cheese”. You should have three layers of “meat” and “cheese”. Finish with a layer of noodles, then tomato sauce, and then a drizzle of the tofu cheese on the very top.
Bake, covered, at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes or until the noodles are soft and the sauce is bubbling. Uncover for an additional 10 minutes to crisp up the top. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Sprinkle the top with basil if desired and try serving your lasagna with garlic bread and a vegan caesar salad!
This lasagna freezes well if you allow it to cool completely and then freeze. Allow to defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat (covered) at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until warm. Reheating the lasagna from frozen will take much longer and ensure it stays covered with aluminum foil so that it doesn’t dry out.
20 October, 2024: Vegan Lasagna With Lentil “Meat” Ragout Experiment: #02
INGREDIENTS: Lentil Ragout
454g/16oz Lentils (Dried ) Soaked, drained, and Rinsed
65g/1/2 cup Toasted and ground sunflower seeds
2 794g/28oz Cans Petite diced tomatoes
2 794g/28oz Cans Water
1 170g/6oz Tomato paste
1 TBSP Cochujang
1 TBSP Better Than Bullion Roast Vegetable soup base.
1 TBSP Ground Cumin
1 TBSP Ground Mustard
1 TBSP Chili Powder
1 TBSP Red Pepper Flakes
3 TBSP Vegan Worcestershire sauce.
3 TBSP Soy Sauce
1 TBSP Sriracha
1 TBSP Tobasco sauce.
8 TBSP Nutritional Yeast
1 TBSP Mushroom Powder
1 TBSP Granulated Garlic
1 TBSP Granulated Onions
2 Palmfuls Oregano.
2 Palmfuls Basil.
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
2 Onions diced and sauteed
1 Hand Celery Diced and sauteed
1 340g/12oz bag California Blend frozen vegetables
1 340g/12oz Riced Cauliflower
INGREDIENTS: Tofu Ricotta
350 g Navy Bean Tofu ( Homemade )
36g/¼
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
236g/8oz plant milk, unsweetened
INGREDIENTS: Vegan EGG FRESH PASTA:
300g AP flour
6 TBSP Rice Flour
3 Chia Eggs
3 Flax Eggs
6 TBSP Olive Oil
METHOD: LENTIL RAGOUT:
Put the soaked, drained and rinsed lentils in the pot.
Add in all the other ingredients bring to a simmer.
Lid and stir occasionally
Taste and adjust the flavour profile to your taste.
When done, remove from the heat..
METHOD: TOFU RICOTTA:
In a 1 quart Mason Jar put in the crumbled tofu and then the rest of the ingredients.
Use the immersion blender to blend until smooth and creamy
METHOD: VEGAN EGG FRESH PASTA:
Setup the chia and flax eggs.
While they sit for a bit, weigh out the flours,
Add the vegan eggs.
Begin to mix with the dough hook on the stand mixer on lowest setting
Add the olive oil
When the dough comes together, set to the next highest speed and let the stand mixer knead the dough for 10 minutes.
After kneading is done put in a olive oil coated bowl. Toss the doughball to coat it in olive oil.
Cover with cling film. Let sit for 30 minutes.
Roll out thin and cut into pasta sheets.
Let air dry for 10 minutes.
METHOD: LASAGNA:
Line the baking dish with parchment paper.
Put a light layer of the lentil ragout and spread it out.
Put on a layer of pasta sheets.
Add another layer of lentil ragout
Add a layer of ricotta
Repeat the pasta, ragout, ricotta layer until the pan is full, or you’ve run out of ingredients.
Top with the last of the ricotta.
Sprinkle nutritional yeast on top.
Cover with aluminium foil
Preheat oven to: 200C/400F
Bake for 30 minutes covered.
Uncover and bake an additional ten minutes to crisp things up.
LAB NOTES: 20 October, 2024:
This was my second time making this dish. I learned from the last time to double the ricotta….
I made the ragout and the ricotta yesterday ( 19 October, 2024 )
After soaking the lentils for the ragout and the navy beans for the tofu on 18 October, 2024 after work.
I drained, and rinsed the lentils, toasted and ground the sunflower seeds, and assembled the Lentil Ragout.
I did a major departure from Ms. Kathryn’s method in that I didn’t cook the lentils in stock, or broth. I combined making the ragout with making the tomato sauce so it’s integrated. Additionally, I added frozen vegetables to the ragout. I made the Ragout a day ahead of the lasagna assembly to give it the flavour boost that you would normally see when leaving a stew sit overnight. I also made the tofu out of navy beans to make the Ricotta.
Today, the job was relatively straight forward.
Made the vegan “egg” fresh pasta dough, roll it out, let it air dry a bit, then assemble the lasagna. I used to metal baking dishes because I don’t have glass baking dishes that fit in my airfryer. Once the lasagnas were assembled I put one pan in the oven and let it bake. While it did, I took the excess pasta sheets and converted them into noodles. I boiled them up, put the rest of the ragout over them, poured on some more of the Ricotta and that was supper, a sort of deconstructed lasagna… Maybe?
I did this to have supper, which allowed me to leave the lasagnas alone until tomorrow. This will make it easier to portion out.
I added the nutritional yeast on top as a substitute for the Parmesan that would be sprinkled atop a non-vegan lasagna. I went with the nutritional yeast since it would add a bit of a nutty and cheesey flavour as well as soaking up any excess oil. Similar to how breadcrumbs can be used to do so.
OBSERVATIONS: 21 October, 2024
This batch of lasagna turned out even better than my first attempt.
I put it down to having done it once before and better knowing what I was doing when I was rolling out the vegan “egg” fresh pasta sheets. Speaking of which, I couldn’t find a vegan “egg” fresh pasta recipe, so I took the bog standard one and veganised it. I hedged my bets and doubled the “eggs’ in the recipe and made up three each flax and chia eggs. Additionally, I used homemade rice flour to flour the board when I was rolling out the pasta sheets. I ended up cutting the dough into eight pieces because that better fit the cutting board I was using to roll out the pasta sheets.
I continued to go my own way with cooking down the lentils for the ragout. The way I did it, eliminated the tomato sauce that Ms. Kathryn used by putting the sauce right into the ragout. For me, tinned tomatoes and the things I added to the ragout are a lot simpler and affordable to me than buying pasta sauce.
I borrowed a technique, sort of, that I learned from my most recent ex-wife and sprinkled some nutritional yeast over top of each pan of lasagna. This was two fold, to emulate Parmesan and to soak up any excess oil that you’d normally sprinkle bread crumbs over top of the lasagna for. Although next time, I may sprinkle both nutritional yeast and bread crumbs over top of the lasagna. I also doubled the Ricotta as a back up. I hadn’t read the part in the blog post where Kathryn mentioned thinning down the ricotta to make it pourable. I’ll do that next time.
I used the parchment paper trick I’d picked up from some cooks from the UK that I’d watched on YouTube. Saves so much time on cleanup, AND makes sure I can get the darn thing out of the pan more easily.
All in all, I’d say this is definitely going into the rotation. If I ration it correctly, the two baking pans of lasagna that I made will last me for the entire week of meals. Making the lasagna has given me ideas on how to use the lentil ragout creatively. Chili Non-Carne, Bolognese, maybe as a base for a meatloaf
OBSERVATIONS: 03 November, 2024:
This weekend I made Chili Non-Carne using the Lentil Ragout as the replacement for meat that you’d see in Chili Con-Carne.
By the way, the lasagna did feed me for the entire week.
I’ll continue to be fearless as I Fool Around And Find Out in the Domestic Culinary Lab.
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