Mushroom “Meat” Lasagna

This receipt was originally from cooking light! I must have made it 1,000 times and tweaked it along the way. It’s def my favorite lasagna, don’t miss the meat at all!

Serves 12

Ingredients:

2lbs Baby Bella Mushrooms, cleaned

1 large onion, chopped

1 tsp oil

4 garlic cloves, chopped

4 tbsp. tomato paste

2 cups tomato sauce

1, 28oz can crushed tomatoes

1/2c water

1 tbsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

12-16 lasagna noodles

16oz container of light ricotta

1 egg

2 tbsp. parmesan cheese

1/4 chopped fresh parsley

1lb of shredded 2% mozzarella cheese

Directions

Clean Mushrooms and chop very fine until it resembles ground texture. I usually cut mine in half and throw them in the food processor. Set aside.

Chop onion and garlic

Heat a large pot. Add oil, garlic and onion and cook until translucent. Add the mushrooms and let that cook for about 5 minutes or so. The mushrooms will start to release water and then that water will start to boil off.

Add tomato paste and stir well. Then add the canned tomatoes, water and sauce. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer the better, add seasoning as it’s simmering. Turn off the sauce, set aside.

Boil water in a large pot and add dry lasagna noodles. Stir gently so noodles don’t stick or break. Remove them individually and set on a large plate or piece of tin foil coated with cooking spray. Place noodles down and separate them with some cooking spray so they don’t stick together.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Make your ricotta mix. Mix 1 egg with the 16oz of ricotta, 2 tbsp parmesan cheese and about 1/4c of chopped fresh parsley (or 2tbsp dried).

Spread the one cup of reserved tomato sauce over the bottom of a large (preferably 10×12-inch) casserole dish. Place a layer of lasagna noodles down over the tomato sauce, slightly overlapping. I usually use a pyrex casserole dish and overlap about 4 noodles. Dollop the ricotta over the noodles, then mozzarella cheese and then a thin layer of sauce. I use one package of the mozzarella for layering and another package to dump on top at the end.

Repeat the layering process. Place a second layer of noodles over the sauce. Dollop the remaining ricotta mix, mozzarella then sauce over the noodles. Layer your final layer of lasagna noodles over the sauce. Spread the sauce over the lasagna noodles, and then cover the top with mozzarella cheese.

Pull out a sheet of aluminum foil large enough to cover the casserole dish. Spray with cooking spray the inside of the piece of foil (the side that will have contact with the lasagna). Place the foil over the casserole dish and crimp the edges lightly.  Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake uncovered for an additional 35 minutes. Turn on the broiler. Broil for about 3 minutes so the top gets browned

Take the lasagna out of the oven when done and let it rest 10 minutes before cutting to serve. Once made, the lasagna will last a week in the fridge.

Nutrition Facts:

Calories: 262kcal

Protein: 20g

Carbs: 24g

Fiber: 1.5g

Fat: 10.5g