No-boil Vegetable Lasagne

We’re trying to get a bit back into the practice of cooking dishes with more than just a single-meal in mind, so that we can keep our time a bit better in hand. Cooking is something that we enjoy … but we both now have writing deadlines (I for my Master’s dissertation, and T. for her a latest work-in-progress), so we’re trying to cut down on the time in the kitchen.

What we’re not going to fall into is the prepared-food trap, nor into the restaurant trap: we’ve been there, and neither one saves time nor money. (Honestly, think about the time you spend getting to and from a restaurant, and the time you spend waiting, and you might just as well have stayed home!) Plus … we’re better cooks than that, really. So, with that in mind, we return to the tried-and-true, no-boil vegetable lasagne

This recipe is more of an assembly than a true recipe. The trick is to get enough moisture from things like the sauce, the tofu, the raw tomatoes, mushrooms, and the zucchini (courgette), so that you don’t have to boil the noodles, and can just put it into the oven and walk away for an hour or so. The mushrooms and zucchini really do have enough moisture to cook the noodles, and things will look a bit wet for the first half-hour or so: don’t worry, this is how it’s supposed to be. This time we used:

• lasagne noodles
• pasta sauce
• zucchini / courgette
• mushrooms
• onion
• tomato
• basil leaves
• silken tofu
• smoked torula yeast
• garlic powder
• port salut cheese
• sharp cheddar cheese
• quorn burger

Just … layer it all in, in no particular order (except that you need a bit of sauce on the bottom, and on the top). Each layer can be different, and will be happier (and thinner) that way. You can also add thinly sliced onions, freshly chopped herbs, etc.

We’ve baked this dish both covered and uncovered, and don’t find that it makes that much of a difference to the end product. If you do feel that you need to cover it, though, be aware that tomato sauce acids + aluminum foil = nasty dissolved aluminum foil on your lasagne. It’s just not pretty, so make a bechamel cream sauce for the top layer if you’re going to go with a foil covering, or tent the foil so that it doesn’t touch.

Awhile back, Elle posted about unlovely looking foods that taste good. This is one of those! Many people put a ton of cheese atop their lasagne and that covers a multitude of sins, as it were, but sometimes overwhelms the balance of flavors with an onslaught of cheese. A little less fat, a little more flavor and a little less than lovely? Who cares, bring it on.

Enjoy!

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