Lasagna Marinara With Spinach

Okay. I must admit, this was probably, for me, my piece de resistance of lasagnas (and maybe most anything else) that I've made.

One word of caution: Be prepared to drop some dough for this dish. It was probably twice as much as anything else I've made from the book so far, but it makes tons (almost quite literally) of lasagna that could last two people 3 or 4 days (especially if you're dinner hogs like we are). And the leftovers were just as delicious each day.

This was so rich, so creamy, so delicious and was accompanied by wonderful aromas. This was the first vegetarian lasagna I've made that even had that traditional lasagna smell to it. I'm not sure how to describe it but it was definitely there.

And let just say that the pine nut cream is definitely NOT optional! That stuff is so damn good and was definitely the crown on this dish. There's so much flavor in every bite of that stuff and just a little went a long way in every bite.

This was a lot of work, for sure. But the amazing smell of the marinara sauce early on kept me excited throughout the entire preparation process.

A couple of notes here: Make sure you bring your tofu (for the 'ricotta') to room temperature first. I thought my hands were going to fall off they were so cold. Also, despite 2 lbs. of greens seeming like a lot, they really cook down and were just the right amount in the end. So don't skimp on those either.

Besides how decadent it tasted, it was packed full of nutrition. There was a ton of protein from the tofu and noodles and of course lots of vitamins and minerals from the greens and tomato sauce. I used about half spinach and half rainbow chard.

I could go on and on about this, but someone is at the door. But if you're a lasagna lover, you MUST make this. But do it on a weekend if you want to get to bed at a decent hour.

Cost: About $27 (yowza!)
Difficult: Hard.
Modifications: I used the truly no bake noodles and split the greens between spinach and rainbow chard.
Cleanup: Moderate to difficult.

This recipe is on page 196 of Veganomicon.