Meatless Lasagna
This lasagna will surprise the whole family. Your kids (or spouse) will never know that there’s a whole head of cauliflower in it, and the walnuts work so well that no one will miss the meat. The red sauce has a sweetness, and the crispy top adds some variety to the texture. While it’s baking, toss up a green salad or cook some other veggies (or both) to go on the side, and you'll have a satisfying and healthy family dinner.
Meatless Lasagna
Red Sauce
1 onion
1.5 cups walnuts
2 cloves garlic
2 large cans tomatoes
2 teaspoons basil
2 teaspoons oregano
tiny pinch salt
several grinds of pepper
splash of balsamic vinegar (about 1-1.5 tablespoons)
Olive oil
Heat olive oil in pan on medium heat
Finely chop walnuts and add to oil
Finely dice onion and add to pan with walnuts and sweat
Finely chop garlic cloves and add to pan
Blend tomatoes (or leave chunky) and add to pan. This will stop the cooking of the other ingredients so make sure that they are sufficiently softened before adding tomatoes
Season with basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and balsamic and allow to simmer until read to assemble lasagna
White Sauce
1 head cauliflower
1 leek
1.5 cups grated cheddar cheese
1.5 cups grated mozzarella cheese
Pepper
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil
Chop the cauliflower into chunks (or use frozen) and add to boiling water
While the cauliflower is boiling, wash a chop the leek and sweat on a medium low heat until soft
Cover and allow to boil for about 10-15 minutes or until cauliflower is soft when pierced
Once the cauliflower and leeks are soft, transfer both to a food processor along with .5-1 cup of the water that the cauliflower was boiled in. Add the water a little at a time just until there’s enough for the cauliflower to mix and turn into the consistency of a thick sauce.
Add cheese and mix until combined
Grate in pepper to taste
Lasagna
A little more than 1 package lasagna noodles (the kind that don’t need to be pre-cooked)
1.5-2 cups cheese (mixture of cheddar and mozzarella)
Assemble lasagna in dish by first putting down a thin layer of sauce
Add noodles, breaking them to make cutting the lasagna easier later
Add a layer of white sauce
Add a layer of red sauce
Add another layer of noodles
Add one more layer of each and then top with cheese to cover the last layer of noodles
Bake at 375° for about 20-25 minutes
