
Being dairy free for over two years I have learned to live without some of the foods I used to enjoy. Pizza is now cheese free with lots of other toppings, no more cheese burgers, no more eating desserts that I haven't made myself. But I have been having cheese cravings recently, first mac and cheese and more recently lasagna. I haven't found a ricotta cheese substitute, so I did some research and experimenting, and actually came up with a yummy dish using tofu as the ricotta. I completely left of the mozzarella cheese because I am not at all impressed by the imitation cheeses that are available and it was still totally delicious. I imagine Matt wouldn't have noticed the difference, except that I made him a real lasagna with real cheese in case the tofu version was inedible.
Here's the recipe for 6 servings:
1 Package Firm Tofu
1 - 2 Boxes Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles
2 Jars Tomato Sauce
1 Egg2 Tsp Garlic Powder
2 Tsp Italian Seasoning
Dash Cayenne Pepper
1/2 Cup Soy Sour Cream
2 Sausage Links
1/2 lb Ground Beef
Set oven to 425 degrees. Remove sausage from casing and saute with ground beef until browned. Meanwhile, mix tofu, egg, sour cream, garlic powder, salt, pepper, italian seasoning, and a dash of cayenne pepper with a pastry blade or blender to a thick, slightly lumpy consistency (that of ricotta).
Begin layering in pan (I use a 10 X 6) with sauce to cover bottom, 1 layer of noodles, ricotta cheese mixture, cooked meat, and another layer of tomato sauce. Repeat 5 times or until you've filled the pan and top with more sauce. I like to use a lot of sauce because the noodles are dry and absorb a lot of the liquid. Cook for 45 minutes and enjoy with a salad and some garlic bread!

No comments:
Post a Comment