Meatless, dairy-less lasagna recipes

A non-vegan friend of mine told me he'd have a hard time going vegan because he loves lasagna. Little does he know, plant-based lasagna can be incredible if you have the right recipe. I reached out to my Facebook friends for their favorites, and 2 of them responded with incredible recipes. I haven't tried them, but they look delicious and fun to make. They take a little knowledge of cooking, as they don't have very specific instructions - use your kitchen instincts and I'm sure they will turn out great. Please let me know if you give them a shot and how they turn out - would love your pictures too!

You can also check out my lasagna article on Greenwala.

1. Abby's Triple Layer Lasagna (easily made soy and gluten-free)

Layer #1: Red Sauce:

• Olive Oil Garlic (diced) 
• Capers 
• Fire Roasted 
• Canned Diced Tomatoes 
• Bell Peppers (diced) 
• Onion (diced) 
• Carrots (diced) 
• Zucchini (diced) 
• Kalamata Olives (quartered) 
• Canned Tomato Sauce 
• Splash of Balsamic vinegar or red wine 
• Italian Seasoning 
• Dried Basil 
• All Purpose Seasoning 
• Salt & Pepper 
• Optional: about a tsp of cocoa powder and a little bit of blackstrap molasses. This adds a lot of depth to the sauce. 

Layer #2: Pesto:

• Fresh Basil 
• Toasted Pine Nuts or Walnuts 
• Olive Oil 
• Nutritional Yeast or Vegan Parm 
• Salt 
• Lemon Juice 

Layer #3: Artichoke/Asparagus:

• Artichoke Hearts 
• Olive Oil 
• Asparagus 
• Lemon Juice 
• Lemon Zest 
• Garlic 
• All Purpose Seasoning

Various Optional Layers: Vegan Parmesan or Vegan Alfredo-style sauce:

• If using vegan parmesan, broil off each layer separately to ensure it's properly melted 
• If using alfredo sauce, I just put on top of the lasagna before popping into the oven to warm

 How Abby puts it all together:

1. Red sauce 
2. Noodles 
3. Pesto 
4. Artichoke Hearts/Asparagus 
5. Noodles 
6. Red Sauce 
7. Noodles 
8. Whatever sauce is leftover or I do the vegan alfredo (seasoning packet) 
9. Sprinkle some toasted pine nuts on top 
10. Sprinkle on Vegan Parm
11. Broil in oven 

2. Ben's Lasagna:

Sauce:

1. Add one cup of TVP to one cup of boiling water and leave to soak for min 5 mins 
2. Cut up one medium onion, one red pepper, one green pepper and and one/two cloves of garlic
3. Gently fry all of the vegetables in a large frying pan 
4. Add salt/pepper as necessary (The salt draws the flavours out of the vegetables and helps flavour the TVP) 
5. When the onions have gone translucent, add the pre-soaked TVP and reduce the heat. 
6. Stir quickly and don't allow TVP to stick to the pan 
7. On a low heat, add a jar of pasta sauce (something generic from your local health food shop: loads of good ones) I always have some passatta available as well: you need the sauce runny enough to pour 
8. Add herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage etc... whatever you like) 
9. You might want to add some finely chopped carrots and/or mushrooms at this point 
10. Put a lid on the pan and leave for about 30 mins. (stir occasionally  to prevent sticking) If possible at this point, leave the sauce in the fridge in a sealed container over night 

Stacking:

1. Get a large pyrex dish and start stacking. You need vegan lasagne sheets. 
2. Stack sheets, sauce, sheets, sauce, sheets, sauce, sheets (You need to finish on sheets!)

White Sauce:

1. Melt 4oz vegan margarine in a pan and stir in 4oz of plain flour 
2. Cook over a low heat for 2-3 minutes, without browning (looks like a little lump of raw pastry, but stick with it) 
3. Turn the heat right down and SLOWLY add 2 pints of soya milk: if lumps occur, stop pouring the liquid and stir vigorously 
4. Bring heat up and bring to boil. keep stirring 
5. Lower heat and simmer for 1-2 mins (until glossy) 
6. Add S&P to taste 
7. (You could melt in a vegan cheese at this point, but I suggest you've tried it out first to see how well it melts: some are better than others. If it works for cheese-on-toast, then give it a go!!) 
8. Gently pour your white sauce over the lasagne 

Cook in a pre-heated over at 200 deg C for 30-40 mins (you want it to start to crisp on the top)

I can make 5 portions out of this, and each portion has between 20-30g of protein; quite good for a bodybuilder!