Winter Skillet Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, 3 cups cubed 
1 onion, diced 
3-4 minced garlic cloves 
Italian seasoning 
4 dry lasagna noodles 
14-oz (1½ cups) marinara sauce

Tofu Ricotta 
15-oz extra-firm tofu, drained 
¼ cup nutritional yeast 
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning 
1 tsp fresh lemon juice 
¼ tsp garlic powder 
¼ tsp onion powder


Directions:
Tofu Ricotta: 

1. Press tofu for 20 minutes. 
2. Crumble tofu with your hands. 
3. Mix in remaining ingredients, plus salt & pepper to taste.

Winter Skillet Lasagna

1. Sauté onions and garlic until translucent. 
2. Add butternut squash and several shakes of Italian seasoning, plus salt and pepper. 
3. Cover and simmer until butternut is just fork-tender, adding water as needed. 
4. Once butternut squash is tender, break lasagna noodles into thirds and lay on top OR crumble noodles and sprinkle over top. 
5. Add marinara sauce on top, then cover and bring to a boil. 
6. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer until noodles are fully cooked, about 10 minutes. (If noodles starts to dry out, add water. If you crumbled the pasta, stir occasionally as the noodles cook). 
7. Divide equally among 4 bowls and top with Tofu Ricotta.

Notes:

• Serves 4
• Per serving: 402 calories, 11.5g fat, 57.2g carbs, 11g fiber, 14.2g sugars, 22.7g protein

Lasagna Soup

I was unexpectedly a fan of this. The flavors work really well together. This could be a side, but really fits better as an entree. It is super filling. I got the original recipe through Happy Herbivore Meal Mentor.

Ingredients:
4-oz dry noodles, ex fettucini, linguini or angel hair
oil
3 cups (24-oz) vegetable broth
½ small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp tomato paste
14-oz can diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
¾ cup prepared white beans
¼ cup plain hummus
1-3 tbsp soy or almond milk
salt and pepper for taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large pot. 
2. Sauté onion and garlic until translucent. 
3. Add oregano and tomato paste, stirring to coat. 
4. Add tomatoes (with juices), bay leaf, and broth. 
5. Stir to combine, cover, bring to a boil. 
6. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. 
7. While simmering, break noodles in half. Cook noodles via package instructions to al dente texture. Drain, rinse under cold water. Set aside. 
8. Remove bay leaf and stir in white beans. 
9. Transfer HALF to a blender and puree until creamy OR use an immersion blender. Return to pot. 
10. Stir in cooked noodles. 
11. Add salt and pepper, plus more oregano if desired.
12. Spoon into bowls and set aside briefly. 
13. In a small bowl, whisk hummus with milk 1 tbsp at a time until it's a thick sauce.
14. Drizzle or swirl hummus-cream in soup.

Notes:

• Serves 2
• Per serving: 432 calories, 5.4g fat, 81.2g carbs, 15.9g fiber, 12.4g sugars, 17.4g protein
• For omnivores, you could add some browned ground beef

Baked Lasagna Wraps

When I saw this recipe, I was very excited to give it a try. It sounded so good; and it was! I wanted to half the recipe because it makes 4, and I didn't want a ton of leftovers because I have lots of fresh meals to make, but now I'm kind of happy I didn't. I got the recipe from Happy Herbivore Meal Mentor, but I altered it to fit my tastebuds.

Ingredients:
10-oz frozen spinach
15-oz extra firm tofu, drained
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt
pepper
2 cups marinara sauce
vegan parmesan
4 flour tortillas (burrito size)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Cook spinach according to package directions, squeezing out excess liquid.
3. In a large mixing bowl, crumble tofu.
4. Mix in lemon, nutritional yeast, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder until well combined.
5. Fold in spinach and 1 cup marinara.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add more Italian seasoning or garlic if desired.
7. Spread mixture onto tortillas and roll up.
8. Place crease side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
9. Bake 15-20 minutes.
10. Warm remaining cup of marinara and drizzle over wraps.
11. Sprinkle with parmesan and serve.

Notes:

• Serves 4.
• Per serving: 424 calories, 13.7g fat, 51.8g carbs, 12.0g fiber, 12.6g sugars, 28.0g protein
• For just cooked wraps, heat the filling (or serve cold), and do not bake. Serve with warmed marinara.

Entree: Cheesy Spinach Noodle Bake

This is a good, vegan noodle bake that takes a little less effort than putting together a lasagna. I didn't like the original recipe from This Can't Be Vegan as written, so I've modified it.

Ingredients

8 ounces elbow macaroni or shells 12 ounces grounds  4 garlic cloves, minced 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 26-ounce jar marinara sauce (use a flavored one) 2-4 tablespoons spinach, chopped 2 cups vegan shredded mozzarella cheese, divided  1 cup nondairy sour cream  1/4 - 1/2 cup nutritional yeast 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. 
2. Cook noodles until al dente; drain and set aside. 
3. In a large nonstick skillet, add grounds, garlic, salt, and pepper, stirring frequently until heated through and slightly crisp, about 10 minutes. Add marinara sauce and spinach, stirring until spinach is wilted and everything is well combined. Remove from heat. 
4. In a large bowl, combine cooked noodles, 1 cup shredded cheese, sour cream, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and fresh parsley. Stir until ingredients are evenly distributed and noodles are well coated. 
5. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 13x9-inch baking dish. Top evenly with marinara mixture and remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, or until bubbly around the edges. Let stand for 15 mins before serving. 

Other Notes:

• Serves 8.
• Nutrition based on 8 servings

Entree: Adrienne's Lasagna

I started with a lasagna recipe, and over the years have tweaked and tweaked and tweaked it. This is the current rendition of the lasagna I make. It's generally popular. This year, we had this lasagna for Christmas. This week the theme is food from this year's Christmas. I already posted the Preston Rolls for Bread/Breakfast. This time, we made the pasta noodles from scratch, so the recipe to do that is also included.

Ingredients:
12 pieces (about 8 oz) lasagna noodles, uncooked (Or fresh pasta) 
2 lb. Ground beef
6 cups (about 2-26 oz jar) spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
1 – 15 oz container ricotta cheese
1 cup small curd cottage cheese
2 cups (16 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese (or Monterey jack cheese), divided
1⁄2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1⁄4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1⁄4 cup spinach, chopped


Fresh pasta 2 cups flour (1/3 semolina, 2/3 all-purpose)
herbs: parsley, rosemary, basil, saffron, thyme, etc, whatever strikes your fancy as going well together 
3 eggs
olive oil 

Directions:

Drying Homemade Lasagna Noodles

Fresh Pasta

1. Combine herbs with flour. On a flat surface, make a bowl of flour, crack eggs into center. Mix eggs and flour together with a spoon. Add oil.
2. After dough comes together, knead well. Let rest 30-90 minutes. 
3. Run through pasta press until desired thickness. (Visit the Egg Pasta portion of this recipe for reference.) 
4. Boil 30 seconds, cold shock in a ice bath. 
5. Let dry 1 hour. Use same as no-boil pasta in recipe. These make more sheets, so layer pasta between each addition of meat then egg. 

Lasagna

Meat Sauce

1. Heat oven to 350ºF.
2. Over medium heat, brown meat; drain. Add spaghetti sauce and water, and spinach; simmer about 10 minutes. 
3. Meanwhile, in large bowl, stir together ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, one-half mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper.
4. Pour about 1 cup sauce on bottom of 13 x 9 x 2” baking dish.
5. Arrange 3 UNCOOKED pasta pieces lengthwise over sauce. Use an additional piece broken into thirds to get full length coverage of pan. Cover with about 1 cup sauce.
6. Spread one-half cheese filling over sauce. 
7. Repeat layers of lasagne, sauce and cheese filling. 
8. Top with layer of lasagne and remaining sauce; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil.



Cheese Filling

9. Bake 45 minutes. Remove foil; bake additional 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. 

Other Details:

• There is no difference in the baking whether you use homemade pasta or no cook pasta.
• However, if you use the homemade pasta, you are likely to have a lot more pasta, so instead of layering the meat and cheese layers together, add a layer of noodles between the layers of meat and cheese.
• This can be reheated in the oven 1 hour at 350º or individual slices in the microwave.
• Serves 12 (slices)