Vegan Lasagna with Daiya

We've made many a vegan lasagna over the years, but the availability of Daiya vegan cheese has truly revolutionized this recipe.  Daiya comes pre-shredded, and for lasagna we use the "mozzarella style shreds".  The "cheese" melts absolutely beautifully, and this lasagna is always the biggest hit at any gathering we take it to. I have a brother-in-law who is a seriously ravenous meat eater. He's big, beefy, races motorcross....and is a HUGE Daiya fan. It's actually quite funny to hear him rave about it!

Important Recipe Notes: 

• This "recipe" is actually more of a guideline so that we can replicate it again in the future.  There are no exact measurements and you will have leftover veggies and maybe sauce. 
• Dish size:  The lasagna dish I use is made by Le Creuset and is 8" wide x 11.5" long x 3" deep (not including lid)
• We pack the dish 3 layers deep, it ends up looking too tall for the dish but the heavy lid keeps everything down.  It shrinks down quite a bit during cooking, leaving you with nice thick slices.
• Do not pre-cook the lasagna noodles!! The veggies provide enough liquid to cook the noodles during baking! 

Ingredients:

• 2 jars tomato sauce of your choice
• 1 large eggplant
• 1 large, or 2 small zucchini (green or yellow)
• approx. 4 cups sliced mushrooms (or half a brown "mushroom" bag)
• red chard, 1 large bunch or 2 small
• 500 grams regular lasagna noodles
• lots of Daiya vegan cheese, have at least 5 cups on hand
• salt
• olive oil

Method:

Slice eggplant, zucchini and mushrooms very, very, very thin.  It's time consuming, but necessary.

Wash, dry and chop red chard.

In the very bottom of your lasagna dish spread a thin layer of tomato sauce and layer the first noodles side by side. DO NOT OVERLAP THE NOODLES. 

Spread another thin layer of sauce over the first layer of noodles.  Sprinkle a bit of salt over top. 

Layer eggplant slices on top, then layer zucchini slices on top of the eggplant, followed by mushrooms on top of the zucchini. 

Sprinkle a very light amount of Daiya over the mushrooms, then drizzle  a thin stream of olive oil over the cheese.  This may seem odd - please read the following note....

**The only fat content in this lasagna is coming from Daiya, and with all the volume of veggies, noodles and sauce that's not all that much.  Traditional lasagnas are full of meat and dairy, so the addition of a small amount of olive oil just "rounds out" the dish.

Place a layer of the chopped red chard over the "cheese".

Cover with another layer of noodles, taking care not to overlap the noodles (the overlapped portions will not cook properly).

Important Step!  Using a small pan, gently but firmly press the noodles down.  This compression will help you get an extra layer in the dish.

Spread tomato sauce over the noodles and repeat exactly as above for the second and third layer, making sure to top off the third layer with noodles, spreading sauce on top but no cheese!

The third layer will be itching to bust out of the edge of your dish. Not to worry, it'll shrink down during cooking. 

Place the lid on the dish - this will ensure that all the steam from the veggies will remain inside and cooks the noodles.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.


Both times we've made this, we've left it in the oven overnight before baking, then baked it the following day in the afternoon. I'm not sure if this affects the consistency, so if it's not completely done after 1 hour (test with a knife, it should slice easily through all the layers), just cook a bit longer. 

Remove from oven, remove lid, sprinkle a generous amount of Daiya vegan cheese over top, replace the lid and let sit for 10 minutes.  

Once you lift the lid, the top layer of "cheese" will have melted beautifully.  

Your lasagna is now ready to eat!