Hello! This week? Lasagna roll ups! These are about the same amount of work as a traditional lasagna, but they’re individually portioned, making for easier serving and portion control. Serve with salad for a complete meal. See my notes at the bottom for clarification on ingredients. Otherwise? Let’s get you rollin’.
For the tofu ricotta:
1 block of firm tofu, drained and pressed*
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp plant milk (I used oat)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp each garlic and onion powder
1/4 tsp citric acid*
For the “meat” sauce:
1 cup of TVP*
1/2 cup of vegetable broth
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 tsp of dried basil
1 tsp of dried oregano
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of black pepper
Boil water and prepare 6 lasagna noodles according to package directions, cooking to al dente. The pasta will finish cooking in the oven.
In a food processor, crumble the tofu and then pulse for about ten times. Add in the remaining ingredients and process till the mixture is smooth. Adjust for seasonings if you want more salt or more pepper, or add in more nutritional yeast if you’d like. Honestly, this “ricotta” is the closest tasting to actual ricotta I’ve had yet, so I recommend making it as listed above. Once it’s combined with the sauce and the pasta, the flavors work really well together.
In a small mixing bowl, combine the TVP and the vegetable broth and allow to rehydrate for about ten minutes. Add in about 3/4 of the can of tomato sauce, and add in the remaining ingredients. Combine, and set aside.
For the rolling, I used a baking sheet to hold the pasta so I wouldn’t make a mess on the countertop, but you don’t have to. You’ll need a smaller baking dish for this, since there’s only six servings in this recipe. I recommend glass. If you want to make more, simply double the recipe and use a bigger baking dish.
Once the pasta is al dente, drain and return to the pot. Take one noodle and lay it flat on the baking sheet (or countertop). Spread the ricotta down first, using about 1/3 of a cup per noodle. Spoon on some of the sauce, again about a 1/3 of a cup. Roll from the bottom up, and place in a well greased baking dish. Repeat with the remaining pasta till all is used. You might have some ricotta left over. Simply store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. Use the remaining tomato sauce in the can by mixing it with any leftover sauce in your mixing bowl. Spoon onto each roll up.
I put some Daiya mozzarella style shreds on top of my roll ups, but you don’t have to. Bake at 375* F for about 25-30 minutes. Serves six.
You could also get this prepared and then freeze until ready to use. I’d recommend only for a maximum of three months, though.
*Notes*
Ricotta: Draining and pressing the tofu is a big step for this. I usually don’t press my tofu, just squeeze as much water out as I can, but for this I pressed it. Doing so gets rid of even more excess water and won’t make the tofu runny. I also used citric acid because I didn’t want the flavor of lemon in my ricotta. You absolutely don’t have to go out and buy citric acid to make this. Use a tablespoon of lemon juice, or two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar instead.
Sauce: Instead of TVP, you can use frozen “beef” crumbles, such as Gardein, etc. Brown the crumbles first, though, before mixing into the sauce. You can also use a jarred sauce you know you like instead of making the sauce above. Personally, I don’t enjoy chunky sauces.
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