Hello friends!

I’m Italian so the holiday season means something special for me and my family – PASTA – and lots of it! Every winter I look forward to carb-loading on delicious Italian staples that remind me of my childhood. This year we opted for my roasted garlic vegan lasagna, aka the best damn vegan lasagna. I hesitate to say that, but it’s meatless, it’s dairy free, and it will fool any omnivore.

I know, I know. Lasagna can be a lot of work. I mean there are layers. There is prep work. And there is a lot of time in the oven. But I promise you, for this recipe, it is all worth it. Plus, if you make extra servings, lasagna keeps well – some might even prefer it as leftovers! I added a few time saving, multi-tasking steps below, but this recipe certainly isn’t for a quick week night meal. Why not give it a try for your next special occasion? You won’t regret it!

Cheers!

Jocelyn

Vegan Roasted Garlic Lasagna

***Please feel free to share widely, just give me some credit or a link back

Prep Time: ~25 minutes; Cook Time: ~70-80 minutes; Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients Two jars pasta sauce (alternatively you can make you own sauce; I tend to buy a pre-made sauce and add extra flavors)

Pre-made lasagna sheets (I used no boil)

2-3 packages of Kitehill vegan ricotta

1 package, Mozzarella Daiya (reserve a small amount for garnish)

4 large garlic cloves, minced

1 large red bell pepper, diced

1 large green bell pepper, diced

1 bag baby spinach

3-4 shallots, minced

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Fresh basil leaves, sliced (reserve a small amount for garnish)

Fresh oregano, minced (1 tbsp)

Fresh thyme, minced (½ tbsp)

1 tsp, salt

Fresh ground black pepper to taste Directions Preheat the oven to 375 F.

If using boiled lasagna, boil water on the stove, and cook according to the package directions. Remember to add a small amount of extra virgin oil oil to prevent the noodles from sticking! Once cooked, drain the pot and rinse the noodles in cold water to stop the cooking, drain again, and set aside to cool.

Cut the ends off the garlic and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Place the garlic cloves in loosely wrapped foil. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

While the garlic is cooking, prep the other ingredients. Mince the herbs and set aside. Chop the sweet onion, bell peppers, and shallots and set aside. In a medium size mixing bowl, empty the contents of the Kitehill vegan ricotta packages and mash it up. Add 1 package Daiya mozzerella and mix well. Then add the fresh herbs, nutritional yeast, salt, and black pepper. Next, sauté the onion and pepper mixture for about 7 minutes and set aside. When the mixture is close to finished, add the spinach so it becomes slightly wilted. When the garlic is done roasting, mash it up and add it to the onion and peppers.

Cover the bottom and sides of a 9 x 12 baking pan with marinara sauce. Begin layering the pasta, peppers/ onions, and vegan cheese mixtures as follows: Pasta Sauce Cheese Sauce Pasta Peppers Spinach Sauce Pasta Sauce Sprinkle extra Daiya and any remaining nominal amounts of the fresh herbs on top.

Loosely cover the dish with tin foil and bake for 50-60 minutes or until bubbling. Remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes.

Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy! This slideshow requires JavaScript.