Meatless Monday: Vegetable Lasagna with Cauliflower "Bolognese" and Kale Ricotta
- Oct 10, 2017
- 5 min read
I absolutely love the idea of meatless Mondays! I try to eat meatless meals (or least plant-focused meals) pretty often. It's healthy and it pushes me to be more creative with my recipes, especially because Colin is a total meat and potatoes guy, so I have to find ways to make meatless meals that aren't noticeably meat-free. I was able to accomplish a meat-free take on lasagna using cauliflower as the central vegetable for a "bolognese" and I added kale into the ricotta mixture for some extra nutrition and texture.
Start by chopping up a whole head of cauliflower into small crumbles that resemble the texture of ground meat. One of the hardest things about making meatless meals is getting the texture right; you could use riced cauliflower for this but I find that the crumbles are too small and don't hold their texture right.
Next, finely chop some mushrooms. Mushrooms also have a great meaty flavor, and when cooked in a very hot pan, they are very reminiscent of bacon or pancetta.
Finely chop up some onions, carrots, and red bell pepper as well. These vegetables will add lots of flavor to the dish. Peel and mince two to three cloves of garlic, too.
Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a cast-iron dutch oven over high heat. When the oil starts to ripple, add the mushrooms. They should sizzle immediately when they hit the oil.
Saute the mushrooms for about 8 minutes until they are very brown and crispy on the outside. Salt them liberally about halfway through cooking to season them and help draw out excess moisture. Remove the mushrooms from the pot with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Lower the heat to medium-high (there should still be a layer of oil in the pot-if not, drizzle in a bit more). Add the carrots, onions, and red pepper. Season with salt and cook for another 8 minutes until they start to turn golden. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper for the last minute.
Add in an entire can of tomato paste and stir it around, allowing it to cook for 3-4 minutes until it the bottom of the pot starts to caramelize.
Stir in a cup and a half of water and use a wooden spoon to scrape all the caramelized bits off the bottom of the pot. Add the mushrooms back in, as well as the cauliflower.
Lower the heat to medium and stir all the vegetables and tomato mixture together. Cover the pot and simmer the cauliflower for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally - it should end up looking similar to meat sauce when it's done cooking. Off the heat, add in another two tablespoons of tomato paste to thicken everything. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and crushed red pepper if necessary.
To make the ricotta mixture, start by boiling a bunch of kale for about 20 minutes until it's tender.
Remove the kale from the boiling water and strain out the liquid. Finely chop the kale, then place it in a bowl lined with a kitchen towel.
Squeeze the kale inside the towel to remove all the moisture you possibly can. Too much moisture is the enemy of lasagna - if it's too watery then it won't hold together when it cooks.
Combine the strained kale with ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, egg, salt, and pepper. Stir everything together and set aside until you're ready to assemble the lasagna.
When assembling the lasagna, start with a thin layer of the cauliflower followed by the pasta sheets. I like to use no-boil pasta sheets for this lasagna as they will absorb the extra liquid from the veggies during cooking.
Top the pasta with 1/3 of the cauliflower followed by half of the ricotta and more pasta sheets.
Repeat the same layer one more time, then top the final pasta sheets with the last third of the cauliflower and lots of mozzarella and parmesan.
Bake the lasagna in a preheated oven for 25 minutes covered. Remove the cover for the last 10 minutes. If the cheese still isn't browned, broil the dish for a minute or two - just make sure you don't take your eyes off of it while the broiler is on!
Let the dish rest for about ten minutes to set up before serving topped with fresh herbs and bit more parmesan. SO good and much more nutritious than a traditional lasagna.
Recipe:
Total Time: 2 hours| Serves: 4
Ingredients:
Cauliflower "Bolognese"
Olive Oil
Kosher salt
8 oz mushrooms, finely chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
12 oz plus 2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 head of cauliflower, finely chopped (about 6 cups once chopped)
1 1/2 cups water
Kale Ricotta
1 bunch kale, washed and stems removed
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese plus 3 tablespoons
2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 sheets no-cook lasagna noodles (or more, depending on the dimensions of baking dish)
Cauliflower "Bolognese"
1. Begin by heating 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a cast-iron dutch oven over high heat. Add the mushrooms when the oil is very hot; they should sizzle right away when they hit the heat.
2. Saute the mushrooms for about four minutes, stirring occasionally, then add in one teaspoon of salt. Continue to cook for another four minutes until the mushrooms are very brown and a bit crispy. Remove them from the pot with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Lower the heat to medium-high and add in another drizzle of olive oil only if there is none left in the pot. Add the carrots, onions, and red pepper with another teaspoon of salt. Saute for about 8 minutes, adding the garlic and crushed red pepper for the last minute of cooking.
4. Add one can of tomato paste to the vegetables and stir, cooking for another 3-4 minutes until the bottom of the pot has a lot of caramelization.
5. Stir in the water, add the mushrooms back to the pot, and add the cauliflower. Stir everything together and lower the heat to medium. Cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is tender.
6. Off the heat, stir in another two tablespoons of tomato paste. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and crushed red pepper flakes if necessary.
Kale Ricotta
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and boil the kale for about 20 minutes until it is tender.
2. Strain the kale, then chop it very finely.
3. Place the chopped kale in a bowl lined with a kitchen towel, then wrap the kale with the towel and squeeze very tightly to force out all of the extra moisture.
4. Combine the chopped, strained kale in a bowl with the ricotta, 1/2 cup parmesan, 1/2 cup mozzarella, egg and 1/2 a teaspoon each salt and pepper.
Layer the lasagna as follows:
1. Start with a very thin layer of the cauliflower lasagna.
2. Top with a layer of pasta sheets.
3. Add one third of the cauliflower.
4. Add half the ricotta.
5. Top with another layer of pasta sheets.
6. Add another third of the cauliflower.
7. Add the other half of the ricotta.
8. Top with another layer of pasta sheets.
9. Add the last third of the cauliflower.
10. Top with the remaining cup and a half of mozzarella and 3 tablespoons of parmesan.
11. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes; covered for the first 25 minutes and uncovered for the last ten to brown the cheese. If the cheese isn't browned by the end of cooking, broil it on low heat for a minute or two.
**This entire recipe can be prepped and assembled a day ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to bake. Add an extra 10-15 minutes to the covered baking time if you are baking it from the fridge.
1. Cook the strips of bacon in a large dutch oven over medium heat for 6-8 minutes until
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