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.

Eggplant-Potato Moussaka With Pine Nut Cream

Although this dish is labeled as a Greek casserole, it could easily pass as Italian, at least in my opinion. But that's irrelevant, as all that really matters was how good it was. And healthy, too.

The biggest challenge of this meal was getting my husband to agree to eat it without appearing to be trying to hold back vomit. Not because of how it looked or ultimately tasted, but because it contained two of his least loved ingredients, eggplant and zucchini. While I'm sure the thought of this meal put a damper on his day (since he lives in the future most of the time) he graciously agreed to eat it and was pleasantly surprised. Not thrilled, not asking me to make it again, but just pleasantly surprised.

I, on the other hand, thought it was very good and I especially loved that pine nut cream. Those gals were right when they said the testers especially loved that part. I can already see using that as a "ricotta" in a lasagna.

The dish was hearty, rich and delicious. My least favorite part was probably the shallots as they seemed a little bit harder than I thought they would be. The zucchini could also have been roasted maybe a bit longer as it was still quite firm while the eggplant and potato were very tender.

Since Bryan didn't want the leftovers (no surprise there) I've been eating them for the last few days. It's just as good as leftovers as it was the first night.

The price wasn't great, but not ridiculous. I'd say it was in the range of $10-11.

This recipe is on page 164 of Veganomicon.