I need a great recipe for a meatless lasagna

[hatredisnotavalue]

I am having a dinner party Friday night and thought I would serve a meatless lasagna because some of the guests don't eat red meat.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[TK421]

1. My sister tried this recipe and she really likes it...it is Betty Crocker

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes.aspx/easy-meatless-lasagna

sorry...posted wrong link before...

[Kali]

2. for non-red meat you could use turkey

but eggplant and/or zucchini/yellow squash is pretty damn good - heck you can even skip the pasta!

[Ohio Joe]

3. My recipe minus the meat

First, prepare the sauce. I start with Prego but whatever your favorite is will do fine. Add in onions, mushrooms, broccoli and some of whatever other veggies you like, almost anything can work and let it simmer until the veggies get soft. Use a tinfoil pan, saves tons on clean up. Coat the bottom of the pan with a layer of sauce, then uncooked noodle, then sauce, then ricotta, then thinly sliced swiss cheese, then some shredded cheddar cheese, then sauce, and back to noodle again. Repeat till the pan you have is to the top, some pans will allow for more layers then others. Cover with tinfoil and bake at 350 for about three hours... maybe 3.5 hours, depends on how you like the noodles, test them with a fork for desired tenderness. When your good with the noodles, take off the tinfoil and cover the top with mozzarella and bake uncovered till it is nice and melted. You should probably let it cool a bit but I usually just dig right in :D

Anyone that wants meat, I do that before the sauce. I like to use ground beef, pork and veal. Just brown each one and add them to the sauce when you start it.

[lillypaddle]

4. Hell, in that case

just heat up a can of Campbell's soup. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Throw in a couple of noodles.

sheesh.

[johnnie]

5. Make some lasagna

And don't put meat in it.

[Bucky]

7. Or make real lasagna and then take all the meat out.

Or just make real lasagna and tell all them wussies to just eat around the parts they don't like.

[flvegan]

6. There are a number of meat analogues that will serve you quite well.

A few are easily found in almost any grocer's freezer.

[madeline_con]

8. Some good veggie lasgnas have bechemel sauce

instead of tomato based sauce.


tomato sauce version:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/calorie-commando/vegetable-lasagna-recipe/index.html

you can use eggplant if you just want it to be a one veg dish. YUM!

White version:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,vegetable_lasagna_white_sauce,FF.html

[struggle4progress]

9. Here's a basic no-boil recipe I use:

thaw & drain 10 oz frozen spinach. combine with 12 oz fatfree cottage cheese & one beaten egg. set aside

saute 3/4 cup chopped onion, some garlic, & 1 cup sliced shrooms. drain & add 14 oz canned crushed tomato; 1/4 cup chopped parsley; 1/4 cup red wine; 1/4 cup tomato paste; season with basil, oregano, brown sugar, black pepper, salt. simmer 20 min. set aside

oil 12 x 8 dish
layer:
1/3 of the sauce
3 noodles
1/2 cottage cheese
2 1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup mozzarella
and again:
1/3 of the sauce
3 noodles
1/2 cottage cheese
2 1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup mozzarella
then:
remaining sauce

refrigerate 8 hr
bake covered @350 1 1/2 hr
uncover
add 1/4 cup mozzarella and some parmesan
back in oven just until cheese melts
let stand five minutes

the time in the fridge eliminates the need for boiling noodles and you needed use no-boil noodles

if for myself, i don't drain the crushed tomatos; the result from the oven is still wet; i cool, then refrigerate; the liquid gets absorbed; and i eat cold or microwave

you can tinker with the recipe: it's pretty tolerant. i'll often replace some zucchini with another squash and/or eggplant; if you do so, it's more interesting if the two layers are a bit different

[VenusRising]

10. We always make ours with spinach and mushrooms.

We aren't vegetarians, but it's what we like the flavor of the best. It's so good, and we never have leftovers if we have people over.

[yawnmaster]

11. Just lasgna without adding meat is very good...

if you want you can lightly fry up some mushrooms first (not too floppy), then put them in as you would the meat.

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. Take any lasagna recipe, and don't put in the meat. Nothing special.

I like to put spinach in mine.

[crim son]

13. I'd use a regular lasagne recipe

with one of those soy-based meat substitutes... there's a pretty good "ground beef" flavor out there. This wasy, the non-vegetarians will enjoy the meal as much as the veggieheads, and you don't have to do anything special with the recipe you normally use.

[greendog]

14. Here's an awesome Spinach Lasagna recipe.

It comes from The Tao of Cooking by Sally Paisley.

This variation adds roasted peppers.

I've made it for friends several times over the years (without the peppers) and they always ask for the recipe. It's the best lasagna I've ever had.

http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/lasagna1.htm

[hippywife]

15. I just make my usual tomato sauce

but add zucchini, summer squash and mushrooms to it. I use those for the layers I would normally put the meat in. Tastes really good.

If you don't have a favorite or usual tomato sauce, let me know and I would be happy then to help with that, too.

:hi:

[applegrove]

16. Cut up red peppers, onions, fennel (only the white part), portobello

mushrooms and zuchinni into large flat chunks. Toss with olive oil and broil each for 12 minutes a side on the top shelf of your oven. Use this to replace the meat layer in your lasagna. Also replace mozzarella with a mixture of mozza, white cheddar and havarti. Sprinkle tarragon or fine herbs between each layer. Add thawed frozen spinach to the cottage cheese layer and mix in an egg to bind it all. The rest you know how to do. Don't forget to add lots of minced garlic to the tomato sauce.

[jobycom]

17. I make a real simple one. Uses tofu, so if you're one of those wusses who is askeered of tofu

then I can't help you. But otherwise...

Drain and crumple a square of tofu. Mix it with a third cup olive oil and some spices (A tablespoon of garlic powder, oregano and basil, plus some pepper, is what I usually use). Set aside for fifteen minutes or however long it takes to get back to it. The olive oil gives the tofu a cottage cheese type consistency.

Boil a pound of noodles.

Prepare a frozen pack of chopped spinach--just nuke it until it's not ice anymore. Mix it with two jars of your favorite pasta sauce, and mix in a cup of mozzerella cheese. Mix it with the tufo stuff, then layer noodles and stuff until you run out of ingredients. Cover with foil and bake half an hour, then uncover and bake another ten minutes.

If you want, you can add more mozzerella, and sprinkle some on top when you take the foil off, to give it a cheesier look.

It's quick, has few ingredients, and usually makes everyone happy. I don't tell people it has tofu, and they never complain.

-----

I used to collect vegetarian lasagna recipes. This is the one that kept getting made, though. There's another one where I use a bechamel sauce, saute (separately) carrots, broccoli, and zuchini, and make spinach lasagna noodles. Layer the noodles, mix the sauce with each of the veggies, then mix two of the veggies per layer. It's excellent but takes forever.

[velvet]

18. yes indeed

I haven't made lasagna with tofu, I haven't made lasagna period. But I have made tofu bolognese with other styles of pasta for many years and never heard a discouraging word from any confirmed carnivore that tasted it. Tofu unadorned is blecchhh boring, it needs to be joined with strong flavours, like curry, soy-sauce and pasta sauce.

I'll have to try your soaking-in-olive oil trick jobycom, sounds good. I normally fry onion, capsicum and crumbled firm tofu together in olive oil for a while, sometimes zucchini too, then add a jar of pasta sauce. Even better with olives or avocado. And of course, cheese.

Very simple, very satisfying. You feel well-fed and full without that heavy feeling a meat sauce can bring on.