A helping or two later...
When I was growing up my mom made dinner every night, or at least every weekday night. She is a great cook and I wasn't a vegan back then when Italian food was one of her specialties. We ate it so often I thought I had a secret Italian heritage! Lasagna, chicken parm, stuffed shells, linguini in clam sauce....the list goes on and on but you get the point.On Sunday night my mom made dinner again, and the Italian roots reared their head once again, but this time in vegan form ~ she made the most delicious vegan lasagna I have ever had. There was no soy cheese, no seitan or TVP "meat" ~ just a little eggplant, a little tomato, some sauce and some good old standard lasagna noodles. You've got to try this one at home, whether you also make dinner every night or just once in a while. It's so easy but SO good!
You will need:
1 box lasagna noodles, boiled to an al dente consistency
1 jar of Rao's pasta sauce (my personal favorite) or whatever you prefer
1 large tomato, washed and thinly sliced
1 eggplant, washed and thinly slice
Pam cooking spray
On a large baking sheet, spread out your thin rounds of eggplant, spray with Pam, and bake until tender (figure 10-15 minutes but watch so they don't burn)
In a large roasting pan, spread a thin layer of tomato sauce.
On top of that place one layer of noodles, a bit more sauce, and spread a few slices of tomato and eggplant around.
Continue these layers until you run out of eggplant and tomato, top with a final layer of noodles and sauce and bake until the top starts to crisp. You could sprinkle on some vegan parmesan for good measure if you want...
Isn't it pretty?
If you want a tasty salad to accompany the pasta, chop up some frisee, fennel, purple cabbage, cherry tomato and dill and dress lightly with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and red wine vinegar. (My mom even threw in some pomegranate seeds for a sweet little twist!)
